Is divorce for lack of sexual relations in marriage legal? For the country of human rights, this rule is still used in certain cases. Which does not please the ECHR. However, six years ago, a case caused controversy.
In 2019, a man decides to divorce for serious misconduct. In fact, his 69-year-old wife has not had sex with him for eight years. She defended herself at the Versailles court on the fact that she takes care of her disabled daughter full time, that she herself is suffering from serious health problems and that her refusal to have sexual relations with her partner resulted in physical and verbal violence from her partner. Despite her speaking out, the court of appeal pleaded in favor of her husband. For justice, the woman did not respect his marital duty.
Marital duty is the idea that a married person must agree to have have sex regularly with your partner. However, since the creation of the Napoleonic Civil Code in 1804, marital duty is no longer enshrined in French law. In 1990, French justice integrated the right to refuse sexual relations. She also repeatedly retained the notion of marital rape if the partner imposed intercourse. Radio France explains that, “ civil justice sometimes continues to rely on an interpretation of article 242 of the Civil Code, to sanction an abstinent partner ».
The ECHR, which has already condemned the United Kingdom for a similar case, condemned France this Thursday, January 23, 2025. She believes that the woman should not be considered “at fault” by French justice, agreeing with the sixty-year-old. This conviction would push France to definitively abandon the notion of marital duty.
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