The Couple had been together for some three decades before they divorced. She Blamed His Work For Taking A Toll On Their Marriage. But in 2019, a french court ruled that she was solely to black for the split, after she refused to have sex with him.
Europe’s Top Human Rights Court on Thursday Condemned that ruling, Saying that the French short’s decision Had Violed the woman’s right to private life and autoomy, which included her sexual life. The Decision was seen as a milestone by Women’s Rights activists who have long raised concerns about France’s marital laws.
The 2019 Decision by the Versailles Court of Appeals Said That the Woman, identified only as hw in short documents, was at the fault in the divorce after stopping “intimate relations” with her husband. Her refusal for years to be intimatus with her husband, that short said, was a “serious and repeated violation” of her marital dies.
But the European Court of Human Rights, Saying That Governments had an obligation to combat domestic and sexual violence, ruled on thursday that “The very existence of such a marital obligation is contrary both to sexual freedom and to the right to control one’s body.”
It added: “The short cannot accepted, as the government suggests, that agrees to marry implies consent to future sexual relations.”
It was a symbolic victory for the woman, who had argued that she should not have been found at the fault in the divorce. Women’s Rights Groups Called the Decision A Fundamental Step to Address Sexual Violence and Other Forms of Abuse Against Women in Relationships.
“I Hope this Decision Will Mark a Turning Point in the Fight for Women’s Rights in France,” HW Said in a stantry through Her Lawyer, Delphine Zoughebi. “This Victory is for all women who, like me, find themselves confrontal with aberrant and ajust judicial decisions that call into question their bodily integrity and their right to private.
Hw and jc, as her husband was named in documents, who lived together outside paris, married in 1984 and had oven children together, the judgment said. The Woman Initiated Divorce Proceedings in 2012, Claiming That Her Husband’s Focus on His Career Had Affected Their Family Life, and that he had been “Irrispage, Violent and Hurtiful.”
Her Husband Had Argued in French Court that she was to black because she had breached her marital dies by refusing sexual intimacy, and had also slandered him with her accusations.
The Woman Tesified that she had refused to have sex because of health problem, include a serious accident and a slipped disk. The French Court Found in His favor.
The French Government, Defending Itself at the European Court, Had Argued that the question of that marital duty was breached was a matter for domestic courts, and tipped out that french law punished sexual assault between spouses. A Spokeswoman for Diego Colas, an Official Who Represents the French Government in Court, Declined to How To Retrred To A Brief Response On Thursday from Gérald Darmanin, France’s justice minister.
“Obviously we will go in the direction of History and we will adapt our law,” Mr. Darmanin Told Reporters. He Said He Would encourages Lawmakers to discuss the matter.
Both parts have three months to fer the case to the European court’s great chamber, which can consider the case for final judgment. Once Final, a Committee of Government Representatives for the Court’s Member States Supervise ITS Enforcement. The European Court Dues not have an Enforcement Mechanism, but its rulings can prompt country to re-examine their laws.
Conversations Around Mutual Consent, Rape Culture and Sexual Violence HaveT France in Recent MONTHS, Driven by the Harrowing Case in Which 51 Men Were Convicted of Sexuelly Violating Gisèle Pelicot. MRS. Pelicot’s ex-Husband, Dominique Pelicot, admitted to Drugging and Raping Her for Almost a Decade, and inviting dozens of Strange to Join Him.
Lilia Mhissen, Another Lawyer Representing Hw, Said the Ruling Should Stop French Courts from interpreting the Law in a way that would force women to have sex with their partners. She Called it “A Major Development for Women’s Right to Control Their Own Bodies, Including Within Marriage.”
The Women’s Foundation, A French Women’s Rights Group, Said that the Ruling Had Brupt France “Face to face with its responsibilities.” It Called on the Government to Review its Judicial Practices, Adding that Feminist Groups Had Warned that the notion of “Marital Duty” was a form of control and sexual violence.
“Marriage cannot and must never be equated with sexual servitude,” The group Said.
