Denmark’s left-leaning political parties have agreed to amend the country’s sexual violence laws to allow sex without explicit consent to be prosecuted as rape.
The parties represent a majority of politicians in parliament.
No date for a formal vote was announced but the legal change is expected to be adopted by the end of 2020.
Under a deal reached by Denmark’s minority Social Democratic government and the left-wing parties, Danish law would specify that sexual consent must be given voluntarily and as an expression of an individual’s free will through words or action.
“This is one of the most important battles for gender equality in Denmark that has taken place for a very long time,” justice minister Nick Haekkerup said after the agreement was announced.
“We must have changed society’s understanding of what rape is, and a new consent-based rape provision is a milestone in that effort.”
Women's groups have welcomed the planned legal change.
The Federation of Danish women hailed a "historic victory for legality and the right to take sexual decisions".
The move will bring Denmark in line with Britain, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg and Sweden, all of which already define rape as sex without consent.
Rape conviction rates in Sweden have risen 75 per cent in two years since it changed the legal definition of rape in 2018 to sex without consent.
