French woman who refused sex with husband vindicated by European Court of Human Rights over divorce ruling
A French woman who stopped having sex with her husband has been vindicated by Europe’s top human rights court this week after they ruled she could not be blamed for her divorce.
The European Court of Human Rights unanimously ruled on Thursday that the woman’s decision to respect her private and family rights was violated after courts in France found the 69-year-old at fault for her divorce after she defied her marital duties, the court said in a news release.
The decision, which prevents French judges from making similar divorce rulings on sexual relations in the future, comes at a time when France is debating the concept of consent to its rape laws.
“I hope that this decision will mark a turning point in the fight for women’s rights in France,” the woman, identified as H.W., said in a statement to CBS News following the nearly decade-long legal battle.
“This victory is for all 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 mother of four, who lives in Le Chesnay near Paris, filed for divorce after 28-years of marriage in 2012, citing health problems and threats of violence from her husband as reasons why she halted all sexual relations in 2004, according to the legal suit.
The woman objected to the grounds on which the split was granted, taking her complaints to an appeals court in Versailles in 2019, which ruled in favor of her husband.
The Court of Cassation, France’s highest court, later dismissed her appeal without explanation.
She took the case to the Strasbourg-based ECHR in 2021.
“It was impossible for me to accept it and leave it at that,” the woman told CBS News.
“The Court of Appeal’s decision condemning me was and is unworthy of a civilized society because it denied me the right to consent to sexual relations, depriving me of my freedom to make decisions about my body. It reinforced the right of my husband and all spouses to impose their will.”
The court emphasized in its ruling that two parties who agree to marry aren’t required to have sex with one another, suggesting it would deny that marital rape is a serious offense.
“The Court concluded that the very existence of such a marital obligation ran counter to sexual freedom, the right to bodily autonomy and the Contracting States’ positive obligation of prevention in the content of combating domestic and sexual violence,” the ECHR said in a statement.
In response to the ruling, French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said officials will now work on adapting the country’s laws, NBC News reported.
