French Parliament Approves Residence Permit Protections for Women Affected by Polygamy

This amendment, proposed by the communist Marie-George Buffet, was adopted during the debates on the "human dignity" component of the draft law "strengthening the principles of the Republic" by the deputies gathered in a special committee.

This bill aims to avoid the "double penalty" for these women, while the bill tightens the rules of the law on foreigners in the event of polygamy. Present during the adoption of this amendment, the government did not oppose the proposal, but questioned its "automaticity".
Parliamentarians also created an offense punishing the "sponsors" of virginity certificates. This government text prohibited health professionals from issuing virginity certificates, with a prison sentence of up to one year and a fine of 15,000 euros.

This law punishes "the fact of inciting or forcing a person to request a virginity certificate through threat, violence, abuse of authority or abuse of power". Now the penalty has been increased to two years in prison and 60,000 euros in fines when the young woman is under 18 years old.

Marlène Schiappa, Minister Delegate to the Interior, welcomed the "consensus to sanction the sponsors". As for the government, it also defended itself from wanting to stigmatize the Muslim community through the polarization on this issue deemed "residual".