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| - France's top appeals court will rule on Wednesday whether three firefighters accused of assaulting a teenage girl more than a decade ago should have been charged with rape instead of sexual abuse, in a case that has ignited a national debate on consent. The woman has gained strong support from feminist groups, who staged protests in several cities last month, at a time when French politicians are debating a bill that would ban sex with children under 15. Julie (not her real name) alleges she was raped by more than 20 firefighters in the Paris area between 2008 and 2010, when she was aged between 13 and 15 and receiving treatment for severe anxiety attacks. During that period she was hospitalised more than 130 times by the ambulance service, which is staffed by firefighters. In 2010, she accused a firefighter identified as Pierre C. of grooming her for sex at the age of 13 and said he introduced her to colleagues, who attacked her in apartments, hospital toilets and car parks, among other venues. Pierre C. is among three firefighters facing charges of sexual abuse of a minor by a person in a position of authority. They deny the accusations, saying she consented to sex. For campaigners, the case has highlighted the vulnerability of children to abuse in a country that is only now planning to introduce a minimum age of sexual consent, long after most other Western countries. Addressing a solidarity rally in Paris in February Julie said: "I have a message for my rapists: you thought you could kill me, now it's your turn to tremble." Under France's current laws, investigators assume that sex is consensual unless there is proof of "force, threat, violence or surprise", even if a child is involved. Julie's family say she was incapable of consenting to sex as she was heavily medicated and very vulnerable at the time of the alleged attacks. The accused were initially charged with gang rape, later downgraded to the sexual abuse offence, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The Court of Cassation, France's top appeals court, is to decide whether Julie was capable of deciding to willingly engage in sex. A lower appeals court last year ruled that her "seductive, provocative, enterprising" behaviour showed she was not acting under duress. But Bertrand Colin, one of her lawyers, said the court had "assimilated the absence of a refusal with consent" and noted: "Silence does not imply consent." The issue of sexual abuse of children has gained huge prominence in France, with an outpouring of claims of abuse, including incest, against senior figures in politics, the media and academia -- described as a second French #MeToo movement. A bill adopted by the lower house of parliament on Monday automatically considers the sexual penetration of a child under 15 by an adult as rape, punishable by 20 years imprisonment. It also makes it illegal for an adult to have sex with a relative aged under 18. The legislation, which contains a "Romeo and Juliet" clause allowing for sexual relations between a teen and an adult up to five years older, has been hailed by campaigners as long overdue. Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said it aimed to send a clear message that "children are off-limits." clw-ali/cb/mjs
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