Legislation requiring sexual consent enters into force in Sweden | World

The text states that "a person is guilty of rape when there was a badual act in which the other party did not participate" freely ".

In previous legislation, only rape was considered a badual act accompanied by violence or threatened.

"There is absolutely no obligation to say" yes "formally, to push a button on an application, or something like that," said Judge Anna Hannell, who helped draft the law.

Courts will ensure that "consent is expressed verbally, by gesture or otherwise," which judges should evaluate.

The law, adopted in late May by a social democratic and environmental majority, is widely criticized by the Bar Association and the Law Council, which has doubts about its implementation.

For the latter organization, the new guideline will lead to an arbitrary badessment by the court of the existence or non-existence of the consent.

The government believes it has already delivered its message. The state has also decided to invest 120 million crowns ($ 13.3 million) in the fight against badual abuse and violence.

Behavior Change

The purpose of the legislation is to change behavior in a country considered one of the most egalitarian among men and women in the world.

"The legislation sends a signal: adults should talk to young people about what is consent," said Emil Gustavsson, of the Men for Homeland organization, on SR Public Radio.

"# MeToo changes behaviors and people understand how much badual violence is spreading," Ida Östensson, who created the Make Equal Foundation, told AFP. law since 2013. mindsets have changed, but it is necessary to have "legislation that protects the physical and badual integrity".