“Only yes means yes” poster from Norway’s women’s march 2018. Image: GGAADD/Flickr
Norway is to become the 26th European country to amend its criminal code to criminalise all sex without consent.
Today, Norway passed a landmark law that will criminalise sexual activity without consent with an overwhelming majority. Previously, the law only recognised rape as “obtaining sexual intercourse by force or threatening behaviour”, or by “having sexual intercourse with a person who is unconscious or otherwise unable to resist the act”.
A wave of 19 other European countries have made similar amendments over the last ten years. So why has Norway taken so long? And what’s holding the remaining 19 countries without a consent-based definition back?
Norway is the last Nordic country to adopt a change to the country’s laws on sexual violence and rape, commonly referred to as the consent law. The vote follows years of campaigning by the consent alliance (samtykkealliansen), a network of 50 organisations pushing to ensure that sex without consent is recognised as rape under Norwegian law.
“The law is not yet in place, the bill is finally here but we still don’t know if it will have a majority in the Storting [Norwegian parliament]”, the consent alliance tells us.
Eight out of 10 rape cases that gets reported to the police gets dropped, and every third case that makes it to court gets aquitted. It is currently very difficult to get a conviction for rape without extensive evidence of force being used, and does not account for common survival mechanism such as freezing. People have also been coming forwards through a social media account known as 1000 stories, where they, mostly women, have told their rape stories with a vast majority of them ending without any convictions.
The Nordic Paradox – When equality isn’t enough
International bodies have previously raised alarms. Both the council of Europe’s expert group GREVIO and the UN Human Rights Committee urged Norway to “amend the criminal legislation on sexual violence and rape”, pointing out how the law failed to address lack of consent unless physical violence is involved – and breaching the Istanbul Convention ratified in the country since 2017.
Norway is the last Nordic country to adopt a consent-based rape law, though the other Nordic nations only made the shift in recent years. Nordic countries also have a tendency to show higher gender-based violence despite having higher levels of gender equality – referred to as the Nordic Paradox.
Schools in Norway teach about rape as sex without consent, but until now, the law required proof of force or unconsciousness for prosecution.
“If you want to be a country that promotes gender equality, you must put in place a criminal law that makes all forms of rape punishable as rape”, says a representative from the consent alliance.
Kamilla is a woman from Oslo in her mid-twenties who spoke to me about her experience with sexual assault. She is one of many affected by the absence of a consent law.
“I was raped by two men, but I was so scared so I froze and wasn’t able to put up any resistance”, Kamilla shares with us.
Because of this she wasn’t able to do anything about the attack against her, despite not knowing the men or consenting in any ways. Kamilla expresses frustration over the little legal protections women like her have:
“The worst part is that my story is not unique, and people like me don’t feel protected against sexual violence by the law or the police”.
Yes-means-Yes takes hold in Europe
The proposed Norwegian bill is built on the “yes-means-yes” principle. It defines sex without clear verbal or physical consent as rape, punishable by up to six years in prison. The bill also includes a “no-means-no” provision, under which sexual activity with someone who verbally or physically objects could carry a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
England and Wales have technically had a law where it was not necessary to show that force was used since 1841, but was further updated to modern-consent law in 2003. Many European countries have followed suit by adopting consent-based laws. Just in the last five years eight countries have reformed their rape laws, including Poland and the Netherlands in 2024. Still, at least 13 EEA countries have yet to follow suit.
In the Baltic states, similar debates to Norway are unfolding. In Lithuania, national discussions have emerged around proposals to reform sexual offence laws to centre on free and voluntary consent. Estonia has already begun drafting a bill to introduce such legal changes. Meanwhile, in Latvia, there has been little political movement toward updating sexual violence legislation.
Timeline of European countries adopting consent-based rape law
The rocky road towards a consent law
“Today is a bittersweet day, I’m so excited that we finally have a consent law, I’m just sad that it didn’t happen sooner so it could have helped people like me” Kamilla says about today’s vote.
The debate for a consent-based rape law was super-charged in Norway after Sweden gained theirs in 2018, and comparisons are often made towards their Nordic neighbours. A recent report showed that the Swedish consent law worked as it intended and has an impact in terms of increasing the rate of reporting and prosecution of rape.
The consent alliance tells us that today’s win “required countless years of government accountability, media work, attitude change work, and collaboration across all agencies that work directly and indirectly with rape victims and the justice system.”
If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence, help is available. In Scotland, you can contact:
- Rape Crisis Scotland (every day between 5pm to midnight): 08088 01 03 02
- SARCS NHS Scotland (24/7): 0800 148 88 88
