Emmanuel Macron is facing a furious public backlash after his government refused to amend incest laws. Recent polling shows that there is high public support for a change to current legislation on incest.
A poll by Ipsos for Face à l’Inceste, the anti-incest association, found that 93 per cent of respondents wanted the notion to include cousins. Incest has remained a thorny social and political issue for France, where the word only appeared in the criminal law code in 2010.
Unlike the UK, there is no blanket ban on the custom, although marriages involving parents, grandparents, siblings and aunts and uncles are outlawed.
Experts in France argue that incest is a contributing factor in rape and sexual assault cases.
A 2020 study shows that about one in ten French people are victims, with father and father-in-laws the biggest perpetrators (32.7%), followed by uncles (17.9%).
While Face à l’Inceste says that up to 20% of incestuous assaults are committed by cousins.
The French government is believed to be concerned that any change to the incest law would inevitably force it to ban cousin marriages that are normal practice in some communities.
Such marriages are commonplace in France’s Romany community, which is estimated at up to 350,000 people.
They are also occasional among Muslim immigrant populations and rare but not unheard-of among traditional Catholics.
Ministers are therefore worried that a ban could lead to a rise in religious tensions.
Despite being urged to introduce a ban by France’s Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence Against Children, Macron’s government has refused to budge from its position.
France has also come under increasing pressure from the United Nations over its policy on incest.
In January, UN experts urged Macron to protect children from incest and all forms of sexual abuse.
“Despite credible allegations of sexual abuse and incestuous violence against children by their fathers, France has shown little regard for the principles of precaution and the best interests of the child, and allowed the mistreatment of their mothers,” the experts said.