Potentially groundbreaking ruling Sex with her husband is not a wife's duty
A French court has blamed a French wife for the end of her marriage - because she stopped having sex with her husband. She appealed - and won.
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- A woman in France has been blamed by several courts for the breakdown of her marriage - because she and her husband stopped having sex.
- The European Court of Human Rights has now overturned the ruling. The courts had violated the woman's respect for her private and family life.
- The ruling could be groundbreaking and make the fulfillment of supposed marital duties inadmissible as a criterion in similar cases.
The decision is considered a triumph for women's rights: the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has overturned a ruling by several French courts that the divorce of a couple was the fault of the wife - because she had stopped having sex with her husband.
She had therefore not fulfilled her duties as a wife. The first judgment dates back to 2010, after which the woman unsuccessfully appealed to several instances of the French judiciary.
The European Court of Justice, based in Strasbourg, ruled that the French courts had violated respect for the private and family life of the now 69-year-old woman in their decision. There was no reason why the authorities should have interfered in her sex life.
Husband allegedly threatened violence
"I hope that this decision marks a turning point in the fight for women's rights in France," said the woman's lawyer in a statement. "This decision marks the abolition of marital duty and the outdated image of the family."
The woman married her husband in 1984 and the couple have four children. In addition to health problems, threats of violence from her husband were also responsible for the loss of quality in her sex life, she said. The mental and physical disability of one of the children had also caused additional stress.
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg decides on the basis of the European Convention on Human Rights. Its decisions are binding for the 46 member states of the Council of Europe, including the 27 member states of the European Union.
