French petitions against age of consent laws

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In 1977 and 1979, several petitions were signed by a number of prominent French intellectuals, doctors, and psychologists calling for reforms to or the abolition of the French age of consent law. A January 1977 petition published in Le Monde criticized the Affaire de Versailles [fr]—the detention of three men arrested for non-violent sex offences against children aged 12–13. A May 1977 petition addressed at the French Parliament called for the equalization of homosexual and heterosexual ages of consent. A 1979 petition published in Libération defended a man arrested for sexual relations with girls aged 6–12.