Spanton vs The French Police

Overview

On February 1, 2019, after three weeks of trial before the french criminal trial court, two police officers of the French Research and Intervention Brigade (BRI), Antoine Q and Nicolas R, were sentenced to seven years in prison for the rape of Émily S in the premises of the police station 36 Quai des Orfèvres. Neither her dress nor her blood alcohol level, or even her supposedly «sexual» attitude mentioned by the defense managed to minimize the seriousness of the facts: she did not consent to sexual intercourse. This conviction comes in a particular context of collective awareness on sexual violence. It is symptomatic of a change of mentalities. A symbolic, but equally universal story in the post #MeToo era.