French woman not 'at fault' for refusing sex with husband, European court rules
A French woman blamed for her divorce because she refused to have sex with her husband has won a landmark case at Europe’s top human rights court. The case has become a talking point in the renewed debate over women's rights in France.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday ruled in favour of the 69-year-old French woman, whose husband had obtained a divorce on the grounds that she had stopped having sex with him.
The Strasbourg-based court said that a woman who refuses to have sex with her husband should not be considered "at fault" by divorce courts, and any concept of marital duties needed to take into account consent as the basis for sexual relations.
It ruled that France had violated article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, relating to the right to respect for private and family life.
The mother of four from the suburbs of Paris, who wished to remain anonymous and was identified only as HW, welcomed the ruling. "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."
The ruling comes as French society debates the concept of consent, with women's rights advocates saying it should be added to France's legal definition of rape.
"It was impossible for me to accept it and leave it at that," the woman said.
(with AFP, Reuters)
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