 "The court stressed that any concept of marital duties must be based on \"consent,\" specifically in relation to sexual relations. Image for Representation. Pixabay")
A French woman who stopped having sex with her husband has won a ruling from Europe’s highest human rights court, which declared she should not be considered “at fault” in the event of divorce.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) unanimously sided with the 69-year-old French woman on Thursday, condemning the French court for violating her right to respect for private and family life.
In 2019, a French court of appeal had ruled that her refusal to engage in sexual relations was a breach of marital duty, granting her husband a divorce to her disadvantage.
Now, as her decade-long legal battle comes to an end, the ruling has sparked a national debate about women’s rights and societal views on marital consent.
What is this case about, and why is the judgment historic? Here’s a closer look.
What happened?
The case revolves around a 69-year-old French woman, identified as H.W by the court, who resides in Le Chesnay near Paris.
She married her husband, J.C, in 1984, and together they had four children, including a daughter with a disability who required constant care—a responsibility H.W took on.
Their marital relationship began to deteriorate after the birth of their first child. By 1992, H.W. started experiencing health issues, and in 2002, her husband began physically and verbally abusing her. Two years later, she stopped having sex with him and filed for divorce in 2012.
H.W.’s divorce petition was based on the grounds of fault, accusing her husband of prioritising his career over family life and being violent and abusive.
However, her husband countered, arguing that she should be blamed for the breakdown of their marriage. He claimed she had failed to fulfil her marital duties for years and that she had breached the duty of mutual respect by making defamatory allegations.
In 2019, an appeals court in Versailles dismissed H.W’s complaints and sided with her husband, while the Court of Cassation rejected her appeal without providing specific reasons.
While H.W did not contest the divorce itself, she strongly opposed the grounds on which it was granted. She expressed being deeply traumatised by the ruling, which, in her view, legitimised an environment where women’s privacy and dignity were disregarded.
Determined to challenge the decision, H.W brought her case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2021, after exhausting all domestic legal avenues.
“It was impossible for me to accept it and leave it at that,” H.W said, as quoted in a CBS News report.
“The Court of Appeal’s decision condemning me was and is unworthy of a civilised society because it denied me the right not to consent to sexual relations, depriving me of my freedom to make decisions about my body,” she added. “It reinforced the right of my husband and all spouses to impose their will”
H.W’s case has received support from two rights groups—the Fondation des Femmes (Women’s Foundation) and Collectif Feministe Contre Le Viol (Feminist Collective against Rape).
‘Marriage is no longer sexual servitude’
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has unanimously ruled that the French woman’s rights were violated under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to respect for private and family life.
The court stressed that any concept of marital duties must be based on “consent,” specifically in relation to sexual relations.
“In the Court’s view, consent to marriage could not imply consent to future sexual relations,” the ECHR said in a statement. “Such an interpretation would be tantamount to denying that marital rape was reprehensible in nature. On the contrary, consent had to reflect a free willingness to engage in sexual relations at a given moment and in the specific circumstances.”
The ruling comes amid growing attention to consent in France, following the high-profile trial of Dominique Pélicot , who drugged his wife Gisele and invited men to rape her. Pélicot and the 50 men involved were convicted last month, and the case raised concerns about how French law addresses consent.
Emmanuelle Piet, head of the Feminist Collective Against Rape said that while French criminal justice abolished the concept of conjugal duty in 1990, civil judges continued to impose it through outdated views on marriage.
She, however, praised the European court’s decision. “Ms. W spent fifteen years fighting this battle, and it ended in victory, bravo,” she told Reuters.
Delphine Zoughebi, a member of the woman’s defence team was quoted as saying by CBS News, “From now on, marriage is no longer sexual servitude.” She added, “This decision is all the more fundamental given that almost one in two rapes is committed by a spouse or partner.”
HW thinks the decision is a step forward in ending “rape culture” and promoting consent within marriage.
“I hope that this decision will mark a turning point in the fight for women’s rights in France,” she said in a statement. “This victory is for all the women who, like me, find themselves faced with aberrant and unjust court rulings that call into question their bodily integrity and their right to privacy.”
With input from agencies