Image copyright AFP Image caption Ms Schiappa told French media the government had decided to set the age of consent at 15 
 
 France plans to fix the legal age of sexual consent at 15, meaning sex with someone younger than that would be considered rape. 
 
 Equality Minister Marlène Schiappa welcomed the move, which follows advice from doctors and legal experts. 
 
 Currently, prosecutors must prove sex with someone under 15 was forced in order to bring rape charges. 
 
 The change comes amid uproar over two recent cases of men accused of having sex with 11-year-old girls. 
 
 Under the existing legislation, if there is no violence or coercion proved, offenders may only be charged with sexual abuse of a minor and not rape. This has a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of €75,000 (£66,000; $87,000). 
 
 Sentences are the same for sexual assaults of minors and non-minors, but rape convictions carry much harsher punishments. 
 
 The government is to approve the new age limit as part of a package of other laws against sexual violence and harassment in the coming weeks. 
 
 It had been discussing whether to set the age as 13 or 15, which is what groups fighting violence against children had campaigned for. 
 
 Ms Schiappa told AFP news agency that she was "very glad" that the higher age was chosen. The limit is also supported by President Emmanuel Macron. 
 
 Minister of Solidarity and Health Agnès Buzyn said setting a legal age of sexual consent would allow a "collective awareness" and that everyone would see what was "legal and illegal", Le Figaro newspaper reports (in French). 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption President Macron has expressed support to setting 15 as the age of consent 
 
 Last November, a 30-year-old man was acquitted of rape after a court determined his 11-year-old victim had not been subjected to "constraint, threat, violence or surprise". 
 
 In another case, a court initially said a 28-year-old man should face charges of sexual assault, and not rape, after saying the victim was not physically forced to have sex. 
 
 But the same court reversed its decision last month, saying the accused should indeed face rape charges. 
 
 Legislation varies across Europe, with countries setting different legal ages of consent: 
 
 14 years old: Austria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal 
 
 15: Greece, Poland, Sweden 
 
 16: Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Russia 
 
 17: Cyprus 
 
 In the UK the age of sexual consent is 16, but children under the age of 13 have additional legal protections that declare they can never consent to sexual activity. 

 
 
 A woman holds a placard reading, “In France, rapists and pedophiles are protected by law,” during a protest on Nov. 14 in Paris calling for a law setting an older minimum legal age for sexual consent. (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 France announced plans Monday to set 15 as the age of sexual consent amid public outrage over two cases involving sex with 11-year-old girls. 
 
 Until now, sex with children under 15 could be prosecuted as a sexual offense, but rape charges could be difficult to prove in such cases because French law required evidence that the sex was forced. 
 
 Previously, the law was categorized as sexual abuse of a minor and punishable with a maximum prison term of five years and up to 75,000 euros. 
 
 That allowed two men to evade charges of rape, sparking a heated public debate among French lawmakers. 
 
 “The government has decided to set the age at 15,” after consultations with a panel of experts, France’s equality minister, Marlène Schiappa, told Agence France-Presse. She said she was “very glad” about the decision. 
 
 A French court acquitted a 30-year-old man of rape in November, concluding that the 11-year-old girl had not experienced “constraint, threat, violence or surprise” during the sex act, which is how France had previously defined rape. 
 
 In a similar case, a 28-year-old man was charged with sex with a minor, because it was concluded that the victim was not physically forced to have sex. That girl also was 11. 
 
 In the second case, the trial court asked that a new trial be held in a higher court, setting off the public debate. 
 
 The new law is expected to go into effect as early as next week and will be part of a larger package of legislation intended to reduce sexual violence and harassment. Supporters of more strictly defining what constitutes sex with a minor were adamant that 15, not 13 as some had proposed, should be the age of consent. 
 
 Read more: 
 
 In Mexico, a man was cleared of raping a 17-year-old girl because he acted without ‘carnal intent’ 
 
 France’s ‘squeal on your pig’ campaign against sexual assault sparks a flurry of backlashes 
 
 Rape charge against budget minister roils French government amid debate on sexual assault
– France will introduce a legal age of consent, and it'll be 15—four years older than the ages of the two girls whose cases sparked the calls for such an age limit. Equality Minister Marlene Schiappa on Monday announced that 15 had been selected after consulting in part with doctors and legal experts. The BBC explains the new limit will brand sex with anyone under 15 as rape; under current law, prosecutors have to prove the child was forced into sex. The Washington Post elaborates, reporting that with rape charges difficult to prove, many defendants faced a lesser charge of sexual abuse of a minor, which was punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to roughly $90,000. Rape convictions carry heftier punishments. A firestorm erupted after two men—one 30, one 28—were recently accused of having sex with 11-year-olds. The first man was acquitted of rape, with the court stating there wasn't evidence the girl had been threatened or violently forced. In the second case, the initial charges were not rape but sexual relations with a minor; the family protested, reports the AFP, and the charges were subsequently upgraded. The government is expected to approve the new age limit as soon as next week, per the Post.