After a long process of feminist advocacy and survivor testimony, the European Parliament adopted a landmark resolution on 28 April 2026, calling on the European Commission to propose EU-wide legislation defining rape as sex without freely given, informed, and revocable consent. Passed with 447 votes in favour, the resolution demands that only a clear, affirmative and freely given indication of consent be considered valid in any sexual act. It states explicitly that silence or the absence of a "no" cannot be interpreted as agreement.
The resolution also calls on the Commission to recognise femicide, the killing of a woman or girl because of her gender, as a stand-alone crime, and to make gender-based violence a new area of crime under EU law. Eighteen women are killed every week across the EU. Naming what is happening to them is a prerequisite for accountability.
The problem the law has failed to solve
Across the EU, the legal definition of rape remains inconsistent. Seventeen of the 27 EU member states already define rape through the absence of consent. The remaining member states - among them Estonia, Latvia, Romania, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria - still require proof of force or physical resistance, placing an unconscionable burden on survivors. This legal gap has shielded perpetrators and silenced victims for too long.
The April 2026 resolution follows the exclusion of a consent-based definition from the EU's 2024 Directive on Combating Violence Against Women, a setback the European Parliament has refused to accept.
Why this matters
In the EU, an estimated one in three women has experienced physical or sexual violence. A legal framework that requires survivors to prove they fought back does not protect women. It protects perpetrators.
The gender dimensions of this crisis are clear. For migrant women, women of colour, and women with disabilities, structural barriers to justice are compounded further. The April resolution acknowledges this reality and demands a legal response equal to it.
What needs to happen next
The resolution is not yet binding law. The European Commission must now propose formal legislation, and civil society must maintain pressure to ensure this happens.
Gender Concerns International calls on the Commission to adopt a clear consent-based definition of rape, recognise trauma responses such as the freeze and fawn responses as not constituting consent, guarantee mandatory training for law enforcement and judiciary, and formally recognise femicide as a distinct EU-level crime.
Equal protection under the law is not a demand. It is a right long overdue
Gender Concerns International continues to monitor and advocate for survivor-centred, rights-based gender legislation across Europe and in our focus countries.