EU “Yes Means Yes” Law? Was It Actually Passed? #consent #law #europe

Added: 2026-05-01

[00:00:00]On April 28th, European lawmakers voted by an overwhelming margin in favor of a resolution that urges all EU member states to implement an only yes means yes [music] policy that defines rape as any sexual act that occurs without explicit affirmative consent.

[00:00:11]>> Yes, on April 28th, 2026, the European Parliament voted in favor of a report calling for RAPE to be defined across the EU based on the absence of consent, basically the yes means yes principle.

[00:00:22]And immediately, the internet did what the internet does best, created a lot of confusion around what actually happened.

[00:00:28]Many started cheering, "Yay, finally Europe has the law that will protect all women." Some people asked, "Wait, wasn't this already the law?" And what does yes means yes even mean? And some people said, "So, what now? Do we need to sign a document before an intercourse?" So, let's try to understand what actually happened. First, no, this does not mean that a new EU law was passed and now applies in every European country. What happened is that the European Parliament voted for a report asking the European Commission to propose legislation. I know it is confusing, so think of it like this. Imagine you have a big family. You and your brothers and sisters sit together and decide where you want to go for summer vacation.

[00:01:04]Different siblings want different things, but finally most of you agree, "We want to go to Hawaii." But, that doesn't mean you're going to Hawaii tomorrow. The first step is going to your mom and asking, "Hey Mom, we voted and we want to go to Hawaii." At this point, your mom can just say, "Nope."

[00:01:18]And then nothing happens. Or she can say, "Okay, I'll consider it and I can make an official vacation plan." Then your mom writes the actual plan, for how long you go, how much it costs, where you stay, and what exactly the trip looks like. But, even then, it is still not final. Your dad has to agree to the plan. And you, your brothers and sisters also have to agree to the final version.

[00:01:35]So, what happened here is not Europe is already going to Hawaii. What happened is the siblings voted that they want Hawaii, and now they're asking Mom to start the process. In EU terms, the European Parliament voted for the idea and asked the Commission to propose a law. But, the Commission still has to actually propose it, and then Parliament and the Council, meaning the governments of EU countries, would still need to approve it. And this part matters because something similar already happened in 2024. The Commission had a broader law proposal on violence against women, and its original version included a common EU definition of RAPE based on lack of consent. Parliament supported this idea, but in the Council, several countries didn't agree. Some countries argued that criminal law should remain mainly national. So, that part was removed from the final law. The final directive passed, but without the common RAPE definition. Using the analogy, think of it this way. In 2024, the sibling side wanted to go to Hawaii, and Mom actually prepared a big vacation plan that included Hawaii. But, then Dad said, "Nope, I'm not agreeing on Hawaii as part of the family vacation." So, the family still agreed on other parts of the trip, but Hawaii was taken out. And since there are still two big confusions around this topic, I'll try to break them down in the next video. First, what does yes means yes actually mean, and wasn't this already the law? And second, does this mean we now need to sign a document before every intercourse?

[00:02:49]Because both of these are a bit more nuanced than they sound.