She said that health issues and violent threats had been destroying her marriage for decades. However, French courts found the lady at responsible for not having sex with her husband when she filed for divorce.
Advocates claimed that the case brought attention to the need for legal reform regarding nonconsensual sex within marriage and sparked a discussion about attitudes toward consent and women’s rights in France.
The 69-year-old French woman, who goes by her initials, H.W., won her appeal at Europe’s highest human rights court on Thursday. The court unanimously agreed with her, ruling that unwillingness to have sex cannot be used as a reason for divorce.
According to the European Court of Human Rights’ opinion, the very presence of such a marital obligation went against sexual freedom, including the right to bodily autonomy and the duty of the state to prevent domestic and sexual violence.
In a statement released Thursday, the woman said, “This victory is for all women who, like me, find themselves confronted with aberrant and unjust judicial decisions, calling into question their right to privacy and their integrity of body.”
After getting married in 1984, H.W. and her spouse had four kids. In 2012, after she stopped having sex, she filed for divorce.
Her refusal to have sex was used as proof by a Versailles, France, appeals court in 2019 that she was the only reason for the divorce. Her attempt was rejected without explanation when she took the case to France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation.
According to French law, a fault-based divorce, or divorce pour faute, gives the harmed spouse the right to sue the at-fault spouse for damages and other compensation, whether monetary or not.
Subsequent French courts supported the decision, prolonging the battle for over ten years. After exhausting all French legal options, H.W. took her case to the European Court of Human Rights in 2021, claiming that the French court’s ruling violated her physical integrity and unjustly invaded her private life.
Based in Strasbourg, France, the European Court of Human Rights hears cases involving human rights abuses committed by 46 Council of Europe members. This entity predates both the European Union and its predecessor, the European Economic Community.
The international court stated on Thursday that it was unable to find any justification for the public authorities’ meddling in sexual matters. It underlined that the concept of marital duties under French law had disregarded the question of consent in sexual encounters.
Lilia Mhissen, H.W.’s attorney, praised the court ruling and expressed her hope that it would be a watershed in the French struggle for women’s rights.
She remarked in a statement that this judgment signifies the end of the traditional, canonical family vision and the marital responsibility.
Mhissen went on to say that France must now act decisively to end the culture of rape and advance a genuine culture of respect and consent.
“Obviously, we will go in the direction of history and we will adapt our law,” French Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters Thursday in response to the ECHR’s verdict.
For many, the decision revived the historic decision in the case of Gis ée Pelicot, whose ex-husband Dominique P. Licot was found guilty of drugging her and allowing scores of men to rape her over a ten-year period.
The French Parliament published a report after that landmark trial suggesting that the legal definition of rape should incorporate the idea of nonconsent. Consent must be freely given and rescinded at any moment, it was emphasized.
The ECHR’s decision in H.W.’s case was applauded by some women’s rights activists, but others argued it underscored the urgent need for legislative change to guarantee protection against sexual abuse in marriage.
The Women’s Foundation president, Anne-Clile Mailfert, acknowledged the efforts of women’s organizations in promoting legislative reform but acknowledged that there was still a long way to go before women were free to use their bodies as they pleased.
In response to an unjust and outdated ruling of the Court of Appeal, I applaud the ECHR’s ruling, French Equality Minister Aurore Berg wrote in a post on X.
No woman is her husband’s property. Women have freedom. “Free or not to have sex,” she continued.