The Association pour la promotion du naturisme en liberté (APNEL) is a French organization that seeks decriminalization of nudity, with particular emphasis on the section of French penal code relating to sexual exhibitionism.[1]
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.[2]
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:
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.
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.
Having heard of the above arrest, other members of the discussion group (French: randonue) organized a fine-sharing collection (French: solidarinue) 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.
During the summer of 2008 numerous newspapers devoted articles to naturist freedom.[3] Over half of these articles made mention of APNEL and the issues it raised:
