Amnesty slams definition of rape in reformed Greek penal code

Amnesty International has denounced the definition of rape included in a reformed penal code to be debated in Greece’s Parliament on Thursday as “unacceptable.” 

The group took issue with Article 336 of the code for its definition of rape, saying that it makes access to justice for victims of rape “even more difficult.”

It added that its primary objection is that rape is still defined in terms of the physical threat it may present to a victim’s life and not on the basis of the absence of consent as stipulated in the Istanbul Convention which Greece ratified in 2018.

The article has also been denounced by the union of judges and prosecutors, leftist SYRIZA MPs Maria Theleriti and Anneta Kavadia, and SYRIZA’s youth wing.

The bill stipulates that rape is a crime but also refers to “lesser forms of coercion” as misdemeanors carrying a sentence of as little as three years.