'Only yes means yes': Why Abir Al-Sahlani's European Parliament speech is going viral

The European Parliament recently adopted a resolution allowing a consent-based EU-wide definition of rape. Under this standard, silence, a lack of physical resistance, or a freeze trauma response cannot be considered as rape. A video from the parliamentary debate with Swedish MEP Abir Al-Sahlani saying "only yes means yes" has gone viral on social media.

During the discussion of the resolution, a fierce debate ensued between progressive and conservative MEPs in the parliament. Romanian MEP Cristian Terheș raised a provocative question: “What exactly is a woman, that a man violates?”

The question was regarded by many as bad faith, as it was taking away agency from the individual, using gender identity as a benchmark to create legal ambiguity, though the core mechanism of the law was consent as universal. The question overlooked the performative nature of gender identity by demanding a rigid, biological checklist to define a “woman”.

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Swedish MEP Abir Al-Sahlani delivered a viral, emotional response, firing back that the question was nothing more than an attempt to "look for the seeds of a watermelon in the garbage" when lacking an actual legal argument. She asserted that a politician's job is not to police identities but to protect victims, stating, "Anything other than a yes is rape. It's that simple."

The conservative argued that the criminal code definitions fall strictly under national competence, resisting EU overreach, and argued about the operational limits. They criticised the legal documentation of "affirmative consent", arguing that it shifts the burden of proof and complicates the presumption of innocence. Essentially, the house was divided into two groups: Socialists & Democrats and Renew Europe voted overwhelmingly in favour, while right-wing factions, including Patriots for Europe and the European Conservatives and Reformists, strongly opposed it. With 447 members voting “for,” 160 “against,” and 43 abstaining. The law protects bodily autonomy, shifting from “no means no” to “only yes means yes”.