A new proposal to require “explicit and free” consent in sexual relations has galvanised the Lithuanian public, with a poll suggesting many to be sceptical or undecided.
A group of MPs have registered an amendment to the Criminal Code to include a provision that consent to sexual activity has to be explicitly and freely communicated, as otherwise it could be regarded as abuse.
Some 56.6 percent of the respondents in a Vilmorus poll, commissioned by BNS, said that the existing definition of sexual abuse was sufficient.
Another 12.5 percent thought that such an amendment to the Criminal Code was necessary, and 30.9 percent had no opinion.
Women, younger people and residents of Vilnius and other major cities were more likely to support the amendment, and people living in smaller towns and villages were the most sceptical. As many as 54.8 percent of school and university students had no opinion on the matter.
Commenting on the results of the poll, Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson Birutė Sabatauskaitė says that Lithuania should step up protection of victims of sexual violence irrespective of public opinion.
“Thirteen EU countries already have a regulation similar to the one proposed, because they realised over time that existing protections were insufficient,” Sabatauskaitė told BNS.
“Changing the existing regulation would also contribute to changing public attitudes and reducing victim blaming,” she added.
The amendments were met with ridicule from some politicians and public figures, which had an impact on the results of the poll, according to the ombudsperson.
Saulius Verseckas, a top official at the Prosecutor General’s Office, which has criticised the amendments, says the controversy stems from the vagueness of what “explicit and free” consent to sexual activity means.
“Apparently, what triggered the public discussion was that in normal relationships, everybody understands each other and they have no questions whether they want to do it or not, while all other cases, where a person has not expressed such consent and where such things are done against the person’s will, are already criminalised,” he told BNS.
The bill on sexual consent was registered by Morgana Danielė, an MP from the Freedom Party, and a group of lawmakers from different parliamentary groups.
The initiator says that the aim is to provide more effective protection for victims of sexual violence.
The MPs propose to supplement the Criminal Code’s Article 151 with a provision that compelling a person into sexual activity without his or her explicit and free consent would also qualify as sexual abuse.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
