APNEL

The (APNEL) is a French organization that seeks decriminalization of nudity, with particular emphasis on the section of the French penal code relating to sexual exhibitionism.As said on the home page of APNEL website

Extract from the association's statutes The "Association Pour la Promotion du Naturisme en Liberté" (APNEL) is a French association with international scope, registered under current statutes and governed by the law of 1 July 1901 and the decree of 16 August 1901.

APNEL is an association which adheres to the spirit and ethics of the environmental movement and the naturist movement, and wishes to collaborate closely with both of them. Its aim is that French law might catch up with the laws of its European neighbours in regard to the right to be naked.

The object of the association is as follows:

To defend and promote the right to be naked. The association is working to clarify article 222–32 of the French Penal Code so that simple nudity is no longer identified with sexual exhibitionism. It considers that to live naked is a fundamental human right which should be registered in the French Constitution and in the other texts relating to human rights. The association has a duty to legally support its members in situations where they are unjustly apprehended in the course of naturist activities. It will launch a fine-sharing collection () in such cases, having first obtained the approval of the board of directors ().

Origin of the Association

Discussion of the idea on the Internet

For several years the concept of the right to be naked was brought up periodically on an Internet discussion group. The underlying problem concerned unforeseen meetings between naturists and non-naturists. Even though these meetings usually took place with no problem at all, the question of the legality of the practice of nudity outside of places specifically reserved for naturism caused many debates. Most of the supporters of the right to be naked consider that there is a gap in the French Penal Code, which while not explicitly forbidding simple nudity, does not explicitly authorize it.

The idea of creating a nationwide association of naturist walkers dates from April 2006, and the following month a proposal for an association's statutes was discussed. However, the people who were interested in forming such an association were not able to agree on the exact terms to best describe certain concepts, for example the list of operating constraints to be used in the association's statutes.

Two Convictions incite reaction The next autumn, two events boosted interest in this kind of association:

At the beginning of September 2006 a naked man was walking alone with his shorts in his hand in a forest in Essonne when from about fifty meters away a person near a barn shouted at him "ça va pas!" (That's not allowed!). He just answered "si" (It is) before turning back without getting dressed again. Later he was arrested by police who told him they were acting on a complaint made by a gamekeeper and he was told that the place was a gay Mecca. At the police station a report was made accusing him of "public indecency" and "sexual exhibition". After the accused had explained his practice of naturism and the existence of collectively organized naked walks, he was told that the Public Prosecutor had treated the affair as a final warning. Since this event he has not dared to walk naked alone for fear of heavy penalties if he is caught again.

In December 2006 a naturist in Seine-et-Marne took part in a television programme on the subject of modesty. After some filming at his home, he drove nude in his car with the television journalists. Being hungry, he stopped at the local McDonald's to order some food but without getting out of his car. After he had paid at the first window two cashiers approached and asked him if he was naked, which he confirmed. The journalists were filming the scene, which seemed to delight the cashiers. After he had parked his car to await the completion of his order two policemen arrived and arrested him roughly at gunpoint. He was, however, able to put on his shorts before getting out of the car. At the police station he was told that as a result of the complaint of three cashiers (one of whom was pregnant and had been attacked the previous week), he would be charged with "sexual exhibition in flagrante delicto on the public highway". Although he argued verbally for a long time claiming in particular that he had only been only visible as bare-chested from outside his car, he was summoned the following month by the prosecutor who fined him €300 as a settlement under criminal law. Being unable to find a lawyer prepared to defend him in a possible trial, the accused, who is a state employee, chose to accept the verdict which amounted to an admission of guilt.

From the first naturist fine-sharing collection () to the creation of APNEL

Having heard of the above arrest, other members of the discussion group () organized a fine-sharing collection () to spread the payment of the fine between the maximum number of people. At a rate of 10 € per person approximately three times the amount required was collected in less than two months. A few hundred euros of support even came from Belgium.

The naturist who was fined did not profit from the collection. He also contributed €10 and decided to use the excess collected for the creation of APNEL of which he became the first president. Statutes very similar to the original were deposited in the sub-prefecture of Palaiseau in March, but it was not until June 2007, after the publication of the notice in the Gazette, that the establishment of the Association for the Promotion of Naturism en Liberté was announced on the Internet.

APNEL began to be an active organisation at its General Assembly in January 2008. In 2008 the association was administered by eight members, including seven French and one Belgian. A woman was elected president. Following the general assembly in 2009 the number of directors was increased to 12 with more regions represented. Since 2010, the association has had over 150 members. It has been affiliated to the French Naturist Federation since April 2011.

Activities since the inception of APNEL

Awareness of the association and the problems it raises

During the summer of 2008 numerous newspapers devoted articles to naturist freedom.Press revue of summer 2008 Over half of these articles made mention of APNEL and the issues it raised: Le Nouvel Observateur, 24–30 July 2008Page in the "Nouvel Observateur" Le Parisien (Ed Essonne), 27 July 2008 Radio France International, Visitors of the day with Caroline Lafargue, 27 August 2008 Le Vif (Belgium), August 2008Article in "Le Vif" (Belgium) La Vie au Soleil, August 2008Article in "La Vie au Soleil" (life with the sun) Le Bien public, 7 September 2008Article in "Le Bien public" On 4 November 2008, the president of APNEL welcomed a host from the television channel, Téva, who came with her crew during a naturist meal. APNEL was cited during the introduction to the televised report.TV show on Téva On 11 November 2008, the newspaper Libération included a portrait of Sylvie Fasol, a woman suffering from bone problems involving periodic hospitalizations since childhood who, in a depressive mood after several deaths in her family was invited by her pharmacist to participate in a naturist walk (). She felt very well accepted by the naturists and the practice of naturism gave her an opportunity to better accept her body, before engaging in the promotion of naturist freedom from within APNEL which was widely quoted in the article.Article in "Libération" As a result of this article, one week later Philippe Bouvard devoted a show "Les Grosse Têtes" on RTL to the same subject.Radio intervention on "les grosses têtes"Video of the radio intervention for "les grosses têtes" On 22 May 2009, following a referendum result prohibiting naturist hiking in a canton of Switzerland, a team from Swiss television came to investigate the issue of naturist freedom during a naturist walk organized for them in the Forest of Fontainebleau.Randonue with swiss romand television In June 2009, the Rennes Monthly devoted two pages to naturist hiking and APNEL, but the use of the term "{lang|fr|à poil" (a deprecating term for nude which was often repeated in the article) did not please everybody.Article of Rennes newspaper and criticism (on the 2nd part of the page) On 8 September 2009, the show "Nude in Public for a Good Cause" on France Culture began by discussing naturist hiking and APNEL before addressing other situations where nudity is also practised.record of radio show on france culture On 12 November 2010, the programme "Thalassa" on France 3 Television broadcast a documentary about naturism which included a report of a naturist walk in the Calanques (mountains near Marseille) with participants being mostly members of APNEL.Report of Antoine Laura for Thalassa France 3

Various events involving naked people were also an opportunity for members of APNEL to promote their association:

Participation in an exhibition of naturism at Héliomonde Participation in the World Naked Bike Rides () in London and Brighton after a in Paris in 2009 was abandoned due to police opposition Participation in a naked photo shoot in a vineyard organized by Greenpeace on 3 October 2009 with photographer Spencer Tunick

Influencing political decision-makers

This is one of the aims of the association, but no legislative work (like writing a bill) has yet been undertaken.

On the other hand, in 2009, one of the organizers of a naturist group in Provence made contact with the city of Seillans and obtained official permission for naturist walks in forests within the commune. A municipal orderMunicipal order allowing a naked hiking authorized two on Sunday and Easter Monday with a municipal police officer to supervise them.

Also to be noted, in Marseille contacts with the Groupment d'Intérêt Public des Calanques, which envisages the creation of a national park of 12,500 hectares, resulted in naturism being an officially recognized activity without limitation throughout the whole massif outside of habitations, car parks and frequented trails.Workshop organisation of earth usages Workshop n° 1 knowledge heritage Workshop n° 2 knowledge heritage

Supporting prosecuted naturists

In early 2008, APNEL organized a fine-sharing collection () for a person who, having sunbathed naked next to his car parked beside a canal and then dressed himself, had to suddenly drop his trousers because of a health problem, was seen doing it from the other bank and fined by the court.

In the summer of 2009, even although all members of the association did not share their extreme commitment, certain officers of APNEL:

visited Stephen Gough, imprisoned in Scotland after having crossed Great Britain naked. He continues to refuse any clothing during court hearings and is arrested and reimprisoned whenever he is released from jail. A collection of money and a postcard were also organized for Steve Gough's Christmas. followed the issue of Irwin, living near the border between Spain and France and practising naturism in both countries, who, after a conviction for being seen naked while putting out his garbage in the street, brought the matter before the European Court.

The year 2013 has been an opportunity to address the problem of vagueness of the law on sexual exhibitionism. It all started in February when a teacher on vacation near La Roche-Chalais decided to walk around naked in a secluded forest area. He was seen by a woman who followed him, noted the registration number of his car, and made a report to the police.

The next day, the police searched his room and examined the files from his computer before turning into custody 21.