Members of the Riigikogu to discuss consent-based approach to sexual violence

TALLINN - The Riigikogu's Legal Affairs Committee and Social Affairs Committee will hold a joint public session on Tuesday at 2 p.m. to hear the views of stakeholders on a draft bill that provides for a transition to a consent-based approach to sexual violence.

According to Madis Timpson, chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee, all parties who have expressed an opinion on the draft during its preparation have been invited to the session. "At the public session, we will discuss a draft bill according to which the other party's consent must always be obtained before engaging in sexual intercourse - without it, it is a crime. Intercourse without consent is punishable under the draft even if no violence was used against the victim," said Timpson, stressing that the legal amendment is important to better protect victims of sexual violence and prevent sexual offenses.

According to Signe Riisalo, chairwoman of the Social Affairs Committee, the draft bill will bring the provisions of the Estonian Penal Code into line with the Istanbul Convention, according to which engaging in sexual intercourse with someone without their consent should be a punishable offense. "The draft bill proposes a fundamental change, because currently, it must be established whether the victim was able to resist and understand what was happening, but in the future, it will have to be established whether the victim expressed consent," Riisalo said.

She added that consent does not have to be verbal, but it must be clearly expressed and voluntary.

Invited to the session are Andra Reinomägi and Mari Haav, advisers at the criminal law and procedure division of the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs; Arika Lepp, senior prosecutor at the North District Prosecutor's Office; Pirjo Turk, head of the equality policies department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications; Kaire Tamm, head of the victim support department at the Social Insurance Board, and Annika Silde, service owner for victims of sexual violence; Barbara Haage, adviser at the law enforcement and criminal proceedings department of the Ministry of the Interior; Egert Belitšev, director general of the Police and Border Guard Board; Reimo Raivet, expert at the readiness group of the North Prefecture's operations bureau; Mario Truu, head of the criminal law department at the University of Tartu's Faculty of Law and judge at the Tartu Circuit Court, and Laura Aiaots, guest lecturer in criminal law; Alissa Seljanko, board member of the Estonian Society of Gynaecologists; Eha Reitelmann, secretary general of the Estonian Women's Associations Roundtable Foundation; Elise Rohtmets, advocacy specialist at the NGO Feministeerium; Hannaliisa Uusma, head of intimate partner violence prevention at the President Kaljulaid Foundation; Varje Ojala, head of the NGO Estonian Union for Child Welfare, and Marta Männiste, children's rights ambassador.

The Riigikogu concluded the first reading of the government-initiated bill to amend the Penal Code, which concerns the transition to a consent-based approach to sexual violence, on December 2 of last year.

The public session will begin at 2 p.m. in the conference hall of the Riigikogu. The session can be followed via a live web broadcast on the Riigikogu website, and a video recording will be available later on the Riigikogu's YouTube channel.