France will tighten legislation on incest, says President Emmanuel Macron after controversial book published

France will tighten its laws on incest, President Emmanuel Macron said in a series of tweets on Saturday, after publication of a book accusing a top French political commentator of abusing his stepson sparked outrage across the country.

Macron said on his Twitter account that France needs to adapt its laws to better protect children from sexual violence and he had asked the justice minister to chair a consultation aimed at quickly making legislative proposals.

“We will go after the aggressors,” Macron said.

Macron said France had already increased the statute of limitations on incest to 30 years, counted from the legal age of majority of the victim, and had tightened controls on people working with children, but he said much more needed to be done.

He said that as part of current routine medical examinations for children, France would introduce sessions about incest in primary and secondary schools to give children a chance to talk about the issue.

He also said that better psychological help for victims of incest would be made available and it would be reimbursed by social security.