A collective of women who say they were raped or sexually assaulted in France is pressing the government to scrap the statute of limitations for sexual crimes, arguing that the clock too often runs out before victims are ready to come forward.

"Rape doesn't expire"

The campaigners, who say they number more than 50, argue that trauma routinely delays disclosure for years or decades, so that by the time many feel able to report, the law no longer allows a prosecution, the BBC reported. Among them is Thysia Husiman, a Dutch former model who alleges she was raped in Paris by the modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel — an associate of Jeffrey Epstein who was found dead in a French prison cell in 2022 while awaiting trial. "Rape doesn't expire," she said. "Trauma doesn't expire."

The group also includes Lisa Brinkworth, a former BBC producer, whose complaint against a former modeling executive was closed because the time limit had passed rather than for lack of evidence. The man she accuses has, through his lawyer, denied wrongdoing and said the allegations were investigated and closed without action — and he is entitled to the presumption of innocence. Other members say they were assaulted by the late businessman Mohamed Al Fayed.

What French law says now

Under French law, an adult alleging rape generally has 20 years from the date of the offense to bring a criminal complaint, according to the French government's public-service guidance. For victims who were children at the time, the period is longer — 30 years from the age of majority, effectively until age 48.

France has tightened its laws in recent years rather than removing time limits. A 2021 reform allows the clock to extend if the same offender later assaults another minor. And in October 2025, after the widely followed trial of Dominique Pelicot — in which dozens of men were convicted of assaulting his drugged wife, Gisèle Pelicot — parliament rewrote the legal definition of rape to center on the absence of consent. Human Rights Watch welcomed that change while noting that a large majority of rape complaints in France are dropped before reaching court, it said.

The case for abolition

Campaigners and some experts argue that shame, fear of disbelief, financial dependence on an abuser or professional vulnerability can suppress reporting for decades, and that treating that silence as a forfeiture of the right to justice compounds the harm. A French commission on sexual violence against children has previously recommended removing the time limit entirely for crimes against minors, citing the long-delayed disclosure that is common in such cases.

The case for caution

Lawyers and legal scholars raise substantive objections to abolishing limits altogether. The central concern is evidence: memories fade, witnesses die or vanish, and physical proof degrades, so a case brought decades later may rest on recollection alone — making it harder both to convict the guilty and to clear the innocent. Critics also point to the rights of the accused, who may struggle to mount a defense against very old allegations, and warn of the strain that reopening historic cases could place on the courts.

Where the debate stands

The French government has not announced plans to abolish time limits for adult rape cases; recent reforms have extended periods rather than ended them. For the campaigners, that is not enough. Their argument is simple, even as the legal questions remain contested: the calendar, they say, should not decide whether a case is ever heard.