A/HRC/47/26 criminalizing rape. In Jordan, rape provisions under article 292 of the Penal Code apply to “any person who has sexual intercourse with a female, other than his wife, without her consent, whether by coercion or threat or deception”. In Lebanon, Law No. 293 of 2014 on the protection of women and other family members from domestic violence, in its article 7, criminalizes a spouse’s use of threats or violence to claim a “marital right to intercourse”, but does not criminalize the rape itself. In other countries, such as Nepal and Rwanda, while marital rape is criminalized, it is punishable by reduced sentences. 72. The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations: (a) Criminal law provisions on rape should protect all persons, without any kind of discrimination. Men, boys and gender-diverse persons should also be covered by legislation. However, rape is a form of gender-based violence that predominantly affects women and girls, requiring a gender-sensitive application of gender-neutral provisions; (b) The criminalization of rape should include rape between spouses or intimate partners. All States that exclude the criminalization of marital rape, contrary to international human rights standards, should urgently repeal those provisions; (c) The criminalization of rape should explicitly include all types of penetration, however slight, of a sexual nature with any bodily part or object. 2. Definitions of rape based on lack of consent and/or use of force and age of consent 73. In the past 30 years, the explicit inclusion of lack of consent in the definition of rape has emerged as its central and constitutive element, as prescribed under article 36 of the Istanbul Convention, the jurisprudence of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and, to some extent, the Rome Statute, and as elaborated upon by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in its general recommendation No. 35 (2017) (para. 29 (e)). On November 2019, the Platform of Independent Expert Mechanisms on Discrimination and Violence against Women issued a statement entitled “Absence of consent must become the global standard for definition of rape”. 74. The submissions indicate that many States have definitions of rape based on lack of consent. 59 A growing number of States, including those that have ratified the Istanbul Convention, have recently changed their definition of rape and explicitly included lack of consent as its constitutive element, albeit using varied language that expresses different conceptualizations of consent. 75. For example, the Criminal Code of Germany of 2016 amended rape provisions to reflect the principle of “no means no”, defining rape as any sexual act against the “discernible will” of the victim. In Morocco, article 486 of the Penal Code criminalizes rape as an act by which a man has sexual intercourse with a woman against her will. 76. Sweden changed its definition of rape to reflect the principle of “yes means yes”. Rape provisions under chapter 6, section 1, of the Criminal Code apply to “a person who performs sexual intercourse, or some other sexual act that in view of the seriousness of the violation is comparable to sexual intercourse, with a person who is not participating voluntarily”. 77. However, criminal law provisions in the majority of States define rape only by the use of force or threats of violence. 59 Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe. 13