What does the law say?

As such, you have the right to lodge a complaint at a police station or gendarmerie. The person who receives you is required to take your deposition.

If you wish to lodge a complaint, we advise you to contact a specialized association such as the CIDFF (center for information on women’s and family rights): their teams will be able to support you throughout the process.

What happens when a victim of gender-based or sexual violence files a complaint? (in French)

Whether or not you decide to lodge a complaint, we strongly advise that you report this violence to your institution. The institutions are under obligation to put a stop to the violence and to protect the victims. Disciplinary action may also be taken against the perpetrator(s).

Criminal proceedings initiated by the Public Prosecutor and disciplinary actions initiated by the institution are independent. The initiation of proceedings by one does not automatically imply similar action by the other. Furthermore, the judge’s decision, whatever it may be, does not oblige the institution to make a decision along the same lines.

Nevertheless, under article 40 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure, any constituted authority, public officer or civil servant who, in the course of their duties, becomes aware of a felony or misdemeanor is required to notify the public prosecutor without delay, and to forward to this magistrate all information, reports and acts relating thereto.

Here you will find the legal definition of each type of violence provided for in the French Labor Code, General Public Service Code and Penal Code, as well as the minimum penalties incurred under criminal law. For each offense, French law may provide for aggravating circumstances that increase the penalties incurred.

Perhaps what you have experienced or what you are experiencing does not make sense in terms of French law, but do not worry, that is normal. Reality and experience are often far more complex than the legal texts themselves. This is why we strongly suggest that you talk to the professionals at your institution’s counseling service or at specialist associations like the CIDFF.

Furthermore, these offenses can be cumulative or overlapping. For example, bullying may be based on a discriminatory motive.

Gender-based bullying

Gender-based bullying is defined as any bullying related to a person’s gender, with the purpose or effect of undermining their dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

• Article L.1142-2-1 - French Labor Code - Légifrance
  • Article L.131-3 - French General Public Service Code - Légifrance

Sexist contempt

Sexist contempt (infraction) is defined as the act of imposing on a person any comment or behavior with sexual or sexist connotations which either violates their dignity by being degrading or humiliating, or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment for them.
Sexist contempt is punishable by a fine of €750.

• Article 621-1 - French Penal Code - Légifrance

Sexual Voyeurism

Sexual voyeurism (misdemeanor) is defined as the act of using any means to view a person’s private parts which, due to their clothing or presence in an enclosed area, have been hidden from the view of third parties, when committed without the person’s knowledge or consent.
Sexual voyeurism is punishable by 1 year of imprisonment and a €15,000 fine.

• Article 226-3-1 - French Penal Code - Légifrance

Exhibitionism

Exhibitionism (misdemeanor) is defined as the exhibition of one’s sexual body to others in a public setting, and is punishable by law.
Even in the absence of exposure of a naked part of the body, the explicit commission of a sexual act, real or simulated, is deemed to constitute sexual exhibition if it is imposed on others in a public place.
Exhibitionism is punishable by 1 year of imprisonment and a fine of €15,000.

• Article 222-32 - French Penal Code - Légifrance

Bullying

Bullying (misdemeanor) is defined as the act of bullying a person through repeated comments or behavior whose purpose or effect is to degrade their quality of life, leading to an alteration in their physical or mental well-being.
Bullying is punishable by 2 years’ imprisonment and a €30,000 fine.

• Article 222-33-2-2 - French Penal Code - Légifrance

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying (misdemeanor) is characterized by the offense of bullying when the acts “have been committed through the use of an online public communication service or through a digital or electronic medium”.
Cyberbullying is punishable by 2 years’ imprisonment and a €30,000 fine.

• Article 222-33-2 - French Penal Codel - Légifrance

Sexual harassment

Sexual harassment (misdemeanor) is defined as the act of repeatedly imposing on a person comments or behavior with sexual or sexist connotations that:

• Either violate their dignity due to their degrading or humiliating nature,
• Or create an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment.

Sexual harassment is also characterized:

• When these comments or behaviors are imposed on the same victim by several people, in a concerted manner or at the instigation of one of them, even though each of these people has not individually acted repeatedly,
• When these comments or behaviors are imposed on the same victim, successively, by several people who, even in the absence of a concerted strategy, know that these comments or behaviors constitute a repetition. For example, in the case of street harassment.

Sexual harassment also includes the use, even if not repeated, of any form of coercion with the real or apparent aim of procuring an act of a sexual nature, whether for the benefit of the perpetrator or a third party.
Sexual harassment is punishable by two years’ imprisonment and a €30,000 fine.

• Article 222-33- French Penal Code - Légifrance

According to a ruling delivered by the Orleans Court of Appeal on February 7, 2017, sexual harassment can also “consist of ambient harassment, where, without being directly targeted, the victim is subjected to provocations and obscene and vulgar jokes that become unbearable for them.”

Revenge porn

“Revenge porn” (misdemeanor) or the offense of invasion of privacy is the act of capturing, recording or transmitting, without the participant’s consent, words and/or images of a sexual nature, taken in a public or private place.
This offense is punishable by 2 years’ imprisonment and a €60,000 fine.

• Article 226-2-1 - French Penal Code - Légifrance

Administration of harmful substances

The administration of harmful substances having damaged the physical or psychological integrity of another person (misdemeanor) is punishable by the penalties set out in articles 222-7 to 222-14-1, according to the distinctions set out in these articles.

• Article 222-15 - French Penal Code - Légifrance

Sexual assault

Sexual assault (misdemeanor) is defined as any sexual violation committed with violence, under duress, threat or surprise.
Sexual violation is understood in case law as any gesture with a sexual connotation involving bodily contact. Certain parts of the body are conventionally considered to be intimate: buttocks, mouth, breasts, thighs, genitals.

But the characterization of sexual assault is not limited to these areas of the body: the sexual nature of a caress can be inferred not only from the part of the body in question, but also from the way in which it is performed and the context in which the events took place (Court of Cassation, Criminal Division, March 3, 2021, no. 20-82.399).
Sexual assaults other than rape are punishable by 5 years’ imprisonment and a fine of €75,000.

• Article 222-22 - French Penal Code - Légifrance

Rape

Rape (felony) is defined as any act of sexual penetration of any kind whatsoever, or any oral-genital act committed on another person or on the person of the perpetrator by violence, under duress, threat or surprise.
Rape is a felony and as such is punishable by 15 years’ imprisonment, excluding aggravating circumstances.

•  Article 222-23 - French Penal Code - Légifrance

Moreover, rape is a felony, which means that under French law, attempted rape is punishable by the same penalties as rape.

• Article 121-4- French Penal Code - Légifrance

Discrimination

Discrimination is any distinction made between persons on the basis of: their origin, sex, family status, pregnancy, physical appearance, particular vulnerability due to their financial situation, apparent or known to the perpetrator, last name, place of residence, state of health, loss of autonomy, disability, genetic characteristics, lifestyle, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, political opinions, union activity, ability to express themselves in a language other than French, belonging or not belonging, whether real or assumed, to a particular ethnic group, nation, alleged race or religion.

• Article 225-1 - French Penal Code - Légifrance

Discrimination also includes any distinction made between people because they have suffered or refused to suffer sexual harassment or have testified to such acts.

• Article 225-1-1 - French Penal Code - Légifrance

Discrimination also includes any distinction made between people because they have been subjected to or refused to be subjected to hazing, or because they have testified to such acts.

• Article 225-1-2 - French Penal Code - Légifrance

Any discrimination committed against a person is punishable by 3 years’ imprisonment and a €45,000 fine.

• Direct discrimination is: “The situation in which, on the basis of – origin, sex, family status, pregnancy, physical appearance, particular vulnerability due to their financial situation, apparent or known to the perpetrator, last name, place of residence, state of health, loss of autonomy, disability, genetic characteristics, lifestyle, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, political opinions, union activity, ability to express themselves in a language other than French, belonging or not belonging, whether real or assumed, to a particular ethnic group, nation, alleged race or religion – a person is treated less favorably than another is, has been or will be treated in a comparable situation.”
• Indirect discrimination is defined as “a provision, criterion or practice which is apparently neutral but which, for one of the reasons mentioned in the previous paragraph, is liable to place individuals at a particular disadvantage compared with other individuals, unless that provision, criterion or practice is objectively justified by a legitimate aim and the means of achieving that aim are necessary and appropriate.”