While the age of consent was previously 15 years, prosecutors in France were required to prove that sex was not consensual in order to obtain a rape conviction.
“This is a historic law for our children and for our society,” Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti told the National Assembly.
“No adult aggressor will be able to seek the consent of a minor under the age of 15.”
The vote in favor of the bill was unanimous at the last reading, the Assembly said on Twitter.
Some lawmakers have expressed concern that a consent age below which sex automatically constitutes rape could criminalize consensual sex between a minor and a person only a few years older.
Consequently, a “Romeo and Juliet” clause that allows sexual intercourse between a minor and a person up to five years old. The clause will not apply in cases of sexual assault.
In a country that has long cherished its self-image as a country of seduction and romance, sexual abuse of women and children has gone undetected or undeclared in the upper echelons of power and in celebrity circles.
But in recent years there have been many soul searches.
The #MeToo movement that has traveled the world after many women in 2017 accused American film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault proved to be a turning point in France. So did the fall in grace in 2020 of a French writer who had written openly about his pedophilia.
France has already tightened its sex crime laws in 2018, when it banned sexual harassment on the streets, leaving people who use cats and aggressive individuals facing potential fines on the spot.