Menshikh A.A. Protection of Sexual Inviolability of Minors under French Criminal Law

Abstract: The article is dedicated to the issues of the criminal protection of sexual inviolability of minors in France. In particular, the author examines French laws that regulate the matter. The actions, which are qualified as sexual violence towards minors, are defined. The French criminal code suppresses unlawful actions; on certain occasions the code prescribes stricter sanctions if the victim is a minor or if the perpetrator is a relative in the ascending line or a person in whose charge the child is; offences against minors are grouped in a separate division. Traditionally they are divided into the following categories: sexual violence, ill-treatment (physical violence) and offences in the field of the upbringing of minors. In France sexual violence includes: rape (sexual penetration whatever its nature), sexual aggression and sexual harassment (caresses, aggression, i.e. harassment committed with the use of force, threat or sudden attack), sexual exhibitionism. The author lists the sanctions applicable to the perpetrators of sexual violence. Such a phenomenon as sexual tourism, which has in the past years become widespread not only in France, is also examined in the article as well as the responsibility for it. Certain services have been created with the task of reducing sexual violence against minors in France or, if possible, eliminate the grounds for it. The complex of common scientific and special scientific methods of cognition is used in the article, such as: dialectic method, analysis, and comparative legal method, sociological, formal logical, historical and other methods. This problem is acute for a lot of countries including the Russian Federation. It should be notices that the Federal Law No 14-FZ of December 29, 2012 “On amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and some legislative acts of the Russian Federation aimed to improve liability for sexual crimes against minors” was adopted.

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