Vienna, Austria, 2025—The criminal court is facing a case involving up to 15 adolescents aged 16–21 who allegedly raped and sexually harassed a 12-year-old girl. She expressly stated her dissent multiple times, yet the presiding judge ruled against the accuser, leaving the little girl devastated, wondering if it was her fault and what she possibly could have done to prevent it.
Shockingly, this is only one of multiple gender-based violence cases in Austria that produced a categorically unjust outcome for the victims. However, these controversial outcomes are not limited to Austrian jurisdiction; they occur in many other European countries and shape the reality of victims worldwide. By questioning whether this legal regime is compatible with modern democracy, I want to explore the discussion sparked by this particular verdict: is a sexual criminal law reform in Austria necessary to ascertain effective protection?
In the aforementioned case, the alleged perpetrators were only accused of violating sexual self-determination, not even sexual abuse of minors, because the judge assumed that they had reason to believe the victim was of the age of consent.
The depicted criminal offences started in 2023 when the victim met one of the perpetrators, who then introduced her to the other group members. Most of the adolescent boys were already known to the authorities, having committed burglary and various violent offences. Following the initial meeting, the perpetrators rotated in having intercourse with the victim, sometimes individually and occasionally as many as eight at a time. These incidents only stopped when the 12-year-old was grounded by her mother, preventing further encounters.
One of the main participants just recently faced trial in Vienna. He was the initial acquaintance of the victim, and they even shared a consensual first kiss. However, their relationship turned sinister when the 16-year-old perpetrator wanted things to get more serious, demanding oral sex. The accuser repeatedly reiterated not wanting to engage in this sexual act, clearly denying consent. The accused argued that he continuously asked her to change her mind and pressured her into conforming to his request until she eventually gave in.
The subsequently rendered verdict is not only devastating but also telling. The mere fact that the minor ostensibly agreed to the sexual act after being manipulated into it because she feared what would happen if she did not comply with the perpetrator’s wish was sufficient for the judge to rule in the defendant’s favour. Only one of the accused boys who faced trial was actually convicted for his acts. Even though proceedings are still ongoing, none of the other perpetrators have received any legal punishment so far.
Their triumph is polarising and unjust, but most importantly, it is a threat to our modern democracies as well as women’s safety globally.
Especially in today’s world, which fosters populism and the steady decline of moral values, we should emphasise safeguarding the right to sexual self-determination and integrity. Consequently, the aforementioned case gave reason to discuss a possible legal reform in Austria. Socialist parties have advocated for a reformed sexual criminal law statute, especially for the implementation of the “only a yes is a yes” doctrine, originating in Scandinavia, long before this specific incident occurred. Its main objective is shifting the responsibility away from the victim itself to the perpetrator. What matters should no longer be if the victim said “NO” persistently enough, but why anyone should have reason to assume consent if a “YES” was not expressly stated. Critiqued by many for its abundance of “preliminary contractual work” which may not be compatible with lust and desire, this agenda’s aim is not to disrupt consensual relationships but to establish a respectful sexual environment that is safe for everyone.
If the “only a yes is a yes” principle were enshrined in Austrian law, every sexual act performed without explicit consent would be punishable. This notion again led to an uproar from politicians who claimed that such a reform would create an excess of “false” accusations, tainting public perception. Of course, this is simply not true—the contrary would be the case. In Austria, only 6.4% of women who experience sexual violence actually file charges against the perpetrators. Consequently, remodelled sexual criminal law statutes lowering the threshold for conviction would foster a more open and just discussion for many victims.
Historically, it has also been difficult to agree on a uniform definition of sexual offences, e.g., rape (§ 201 of the Austrian criminal code). Is violence or intimidation necessary to constitute a punishable act? Is rape even possible between two married people—did they not automatically consent to sexual acts too, when they decided to spend their lives together? These questions seem absurd in today’s society—of course, rape can also happen in marriages, of course, being friendly does not equal giving consent to sex, and of course, violence does not have to be physical to constitute pressure. Yet, these fundamental understandings were not always inherent. In Austria, rape within marriage was not a criminal offence until 1989, and physical evidence of violence was required to report rape until 2016. In Austria, an explicit “NO” expressed by the victim is required to convict someone on the basis of rape to this day.
Looking at the case of the 12-year-old girl in Vienna, we can see, however, that even though precise legal norms exist, their implications are not foreseeable, and even a repeated “NO” does not always suffice. So, how do we tackle this lack of gender equality in order to provide the necessary means to uphold the moral promises of constitutional democracies? 12 countries, including the UK, Belgium, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, and many more, have already implemented the “only a yes is a yes” policy or are in the process of doing so, and Austria should follow in their footsteps.
While a reformed legal statute is an important basis for gender equality, universal access to education concerning this topic is also vital. Young people need to be taught about consent early on, and not only in sexual contexts. The discussion about gender-based violence and social justice needs to shift from establishing defence mechanisms for girls to educating boys about boundaries. Additionally, societies’ impact on moral values cannot be underestimated and needs to be critically reassessed in order to reinforce the importance of respectful and consensual interactions.
Written by Katharina Hetzendorfer, Edited by Raleigh Kuipers
Photo Credit: Nellie Adamyan (Uploaded June 20, 2023) on Unsplash
