France is to enshrine in law the end of so-called conjugal rights – the notion that marriage means a duty to have sex.
A bill approved on Wednesday in the National Assembly adds a clause to the country's civil code to make clear that community of living does not create an obligation for sexual relations. The proposed law also makes it impossible to use lack of sexual relations as an argument in fault-based divorce.
Though unlikely to have a major impact in the courts, supporters hope the law will help deter marital rape. By allowing such a right or duty to persist, we are collectively giving our approval to a system of domination and predation by husband on wife, said the bill's sponsor, Green MP Marie-Charlotte Garin. Marriage cannot be a bubble in which consent to sex is regarded as definitive and for life.
The law will erase an ambiguity that has persisted despite there being no explicit mention of conjugal duty in any legal text. Currently, the French civil code defines the duties of marriage as respect, fidelity, support and assistance, stating that couples commit themselves to a community of living.
Despite the absence of the word conjugal or any explicit sexual rights in the legal code, judges have historically interpreted community of living to imply sexual relations. In a 2019 case, a woman was granted a fault-based divorce after withholding sex from her husband for years, but the decision was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for equating lack of sex with fault.
This latest development aims to confront the deep-seated societal assumption that wives have a duty to comply with their husband's sexual demands, a view reinforced by cases like the Mazan trial, wherein a woman, drugged and unconscious, was sexually assaulted by multiple men believing they had her consent.
In recent years, France has strengthened laws against marital rape, removing previous notions that marriage implied consent. The recognition that informed, voluntary consent is essential in sexual relations has become a crucial aspect of the legal definition of rape in France.
A bill approved on Wednesday in the National Assembly adds a clause to the country's civil code to make clear that community of living does not create an obligation for sexual relations. The proposed law also makes it impossible to use lack of sexual relations as an argument in fault-based divorce.
Though unlikely to have a major impact in the courts, supporters hope the law will help deter marital rape. By allowing such a right or duty to persist, we are collectively giving our approval to a system of domination and predation by husband on wife, said the bill's sponsor, Green MP Marie-Charlotte Garin. Marriage cannot be a bubble in which consent to sex is regarded as definitive and for life.
The law will erase an ambiguity that has persisted despite there being no explicit mention of conjugal duty in any legal text. Currently, the French civil code defines the duties of marriage as respect, fidelity, support and assistance, stating that couples commit themselves to a community of living.
Despite the absence of the word conjugal or any explicit sexual rights in the legal code, judges have historically interpreted community of living to imply sexual relations. In a 2019 case, a woman was granted a fault-based divorce after withholding sex from her husband for years, but the decision was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for equating lack of sex with fault.
This latest development aims to confront the deep-seated societal assumption that wives have a duty to comply with their husband's sexual demands, a view reinforced by cases like the Mazan trial, wherein a woman, drugged and unconscious, was sexually assaulted by multiple men believing they had her consent.
In recent years, France has strengthened laws against marital rape, removing previous notions that marriage implied consent. The recognition that informed, voluntary consent is essential in sexual relations has become a crucial aspect of the legal definition of rape in France.
