Sex without voluntary consent will be classified as a crime in Ukraine. Corresponding amendments to the country's Criminal Code entered into force on January 11, RIA Novosti reports.
According to the changes adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in December 2017, any citizen of Ukraine can write a statement of rape if sexual acts were committed without mutual voluntary consent. "Consent is considered voluntary if it is the result of the free expression of the will of a person, taking into account the accompanying circumstances," the new edition says.
The new amendments also apply to sexual relations within marriage. For violence against a spouse, you can get up to ten years in prison, and the maximum punishment for similar actions in relation to an outsider is five years in prison.
Previously, sexual acts committed with the help of threats, violence, or abuse of a helpless state were considered rape in Ukraine.
In 2018, sex without mutual consent was recognized as rape in Sweden, and in French law, any sex of an adult with a person under 15 years old began to be considered rape.
