Across the EU, women continue to experience sexual violence that is invisible in law. Many perpetrators evade justice because, in several Member States rape is still defined through a narrow lens of force, injury or physical resistance.
There, women who have been coerced into sex, manipulated, too frightened to resist, or been so shocked that they didn’t physically fight, have little or no protection.
As countries update national legislation to implement the new Directive on Violence Against Women, they face a crucial choice.
Do they treat sexual violence as a crime of non-consent?
Or do they cling onto systems that require survivors to prove they fought back?
For Ireland, which adopted a consent-based definition in 2017, the shift changed what the justice system was able to see.
But as Clíona Saidlear, Executive Director of Rape Crisis Ireland, explains, the legal change is only the starting point.
“For those of us now living under a consent-based regime, it feels like common sense. But it’s very recent. Before 2017 and before that consent-based definition of rape, you effectively needed evidence of force or injury,” she says.
“Survivors were asked why they didn’t resist, where the bruises were. The definition simply didn’t reflect the reality of trauma.”
Understanding the trauma responses that law must recognise
One of the most powerful shifts in Ireland has been recognising that fighting back is just one of several instinctive trauma responses to sexual violence.
Clíona explains that many people recognise the “three Fs”, fight, flight and freeze. But a fourth response is less widely understood: fawn.
“That is where someone cooperates out of fear, anticipating the perpetrator’s needs so they survive,” she says. “The survivor may appear compliant. But terror is not consent.”
These trauma responses mean many women do not, and cannot, fight back. A law that requires proof of resistance effectively erases their experiences.
Reforming the definition of rape means that these cases can finally be prosecuted.
Survivors whose bodies froze or who complied out of fear are no longer excluded from justice because they lack visible injuries.
But legal reform alone does not reduce the stress of the entire process.
“It’s still traumatic. Survivors still feel like they’re on trial, explaining their behaviour to prove they did not consent,” says Clíona.
“The focus has shifted from ‘did sex happen?’ to ‘was there consent?’, and that brings a new level of scrutiny of thoughts and reactions.”
Changing public understanding: from fear to empowerment
Part of the transformation in Ireland has been cultural, driven by the nation’s shift in education and public communication.
Clíona describes how Rape Crisis Ireland once relied on fear-based communication to get its message across.
But when the team realised that traditional “facts and myths” approach to educating schoolchildren often backfired, they deliberately moved away from it. They moved from a ‘fear’ based communications strategy more towards a ‘hope’ based approach.
“Fear got headlines. It was almost addictive. It guaranteed media attention, but it was also harmful,” she says.
“It trapped girls in impossible safety lists and kept perpetrators invisible.”
Rape Crisis Ireland actively changed their approach to education, particularly around consent. They opened up a more constructive space to speak about sex. One that embraced self-knowledge and communication.
By focusing on empowerment, choice, communication and accurate information they changed the way that sensitive discussions took place.
“Selling good sex is much easier than selling fear,” says Clíona.
Rape Crisis Ireland and national government campaigns now aim to teach consent not as a warning, but as a shared responsibility.It’s a model that could work for other Member States too.
Why Member States should act now
The new EU Directive on Violence Against Women offers Member States a unique opportunity to align their laws with survivors’ lived reality.
EIGE’s research finds gender-based violence is widely under-reported.
Only a quarter of victims say they reported physical and/or sexual violence to police, healthcare or social services. With only 7% of women abused by their partner reporting the last incident to the police.
Almost 1 in 4 women didn’t go to the police after being raped (by someone other than their partner) because they believed the police couldn’t help.
This might be because they distrust the quality of support services available. Or because women know they cannot meet the burden of proving resistance in countries where the consent-based definition of rape has not been adopted yet.
The EU gender-based violence survey data shows that across the EU, almost twice as many women report being raped when “unable to refuse or under coercion” than when “force or threats” are used.
A consent-based definition ensures:
- Coerced sex is recognised as rape, not dismissed as “misunderstanding”;
- Freeze and fear responses are understood, not misinterpreted as agreement;
- Cases can be prosecuted without physical injury, which is absent in many assaults;
- Police and prosecutors have clearer standards, reducing the risk of harmful myths influencing decisions.
Clíona stresses that changing the law is the easy part. Changing culture takes sustained commitment.
“Every country needs a whole-system lift: education that builds consent into the curriculum, public messaging that talks about what healthy sexual consent communication looks like, and training across police, justice and support services,” she says.
How Ireland built a society-wide consent culture
Ireland’s experience shows what Member States can do once they adopt consent-based definitions:
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Build consent into education for all ages
Consent is included in sexual health modules in schools and compulsory frameworks for higher education. Ireland’s approach ensures every young person encounters the concept not once, but repeatedly.
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Support communities and families
Public campaigns and billboards target older generations too, recognising that adults also need to unlearn myths, understand trauma responses and learn to talk about consent.
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Strengthen the justice system
Specialised police units now handle sexual violence cases. Quality evidence arriving at the prosecutor’s office has increased significantly as a result, helping build stronger cases.
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Protect survivors in court
Ireland is paying attention to reforming rules on irrelevant or prejudicial evidence, including previous sexual history and counselling notes, to prevent a survivor’s credibility being undermined by myths and misogyny.
What other Member States can learn
“What succeeded in Ireland won’t translate exactly. Every country needs to adapt,” warns Clíona.
“But the direction of travel is universal: move from fear and silence to communication, confidence and clarity.”
- Fear doesn’t change culture; empowerment does.
- Survivors should never have to prove physical resistance.
- Consent conversations need to happen in classrooms, families and communities — not just courtrooms.
- Adopting the definition is step one; implementing it is step two; shifting public understanding is step three.
A European opportunity that cannot be missed
The new Directive gives Member States a once-in-a-generation chance to modernise their laws on sexual violence.
And to create the conditions for safer, healthier relationships across society.
Criminalising sex without consent is the legal foundation. Education, communication and awareness-raising should build on this to make it real.
If Europe wants a future where women’s “no”, or silence, or stillness, is always understood as no, then now is the moment to act.
