In a landmark
move, Denmark, on Thursday, toughened its laws around sexual violence, amending its sex laws by criminalising sex without explicit consent, reported
Reuters.

In addition
to making ‘consent’ a key take away in the new piece of legislation, it also
focuses on amending the definition and circumstances that would amount to rape.

Under
the old legislation, the onus was on prosecutors to prove that violence has
been used by the accused on someone with no ability to resist but after the amendment, any sexual act without clear consent by both the partners will constitute rape.

“Now
it will be clear, that if both parties do not consent to sex, then it’s rape,” justice minister Nick Haekkerup said in a statement according to Reuters.

Activists and experts across the nation, who have welcomed the new laws believe it to be a monumental step in abating the ratio of sex crimes and would result in speedy delivery of justice to the victims.

The best example of it would be the neighboring country of Sweden which introduced a similar law introduced in 2018 that led to a 75% rise in rape convictions.

As far as the statistics are concerned, the ministry figures indicate that around 11,400 women are raped or subjected to attempted rape in Denmark every year.

“This is a great day for women in Denmark as it consigns outdated and dangerous rape laws to the dustbin of history and helps to end pervasive stigma and endemic impunity for this crime,” Reuters quoted Anna Blus, the campaign group’s Women’s Rights Researcher, as saying.

According to Amnesty International, Denmark had become the 12th country in Europe to recognise non-consensual sex as rape.

The law will come into effect from January 1.