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France taken to European Court over divorce ruling that woman had 'marital duty' to have sex with husband

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France taken to European Court over divorce ruling that woman had 'marital duty' to have sex with husband
This photo shows the inside of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, eastern France, on February 7, 2019. (Photo by FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP)

A case has been brought against France at the European Court of Human Rights by a woman who lost a divorce case after judges ruled against her because she refused to have sex with her husband.

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The woman, who has not been named, has brought the case with the backing of two French feminist groups, arguing that the French court ruling contravened human rights legislation by "interference in private life" and "violation of physical integrity".

It comes after a ruling in the Appeals Court in Versailles which pronounced a fault divorce in 2019 because of her refusal to have sex with her husband.

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The court ruled that the facts of the case "established by the admission of the wife, constitute a serious and renewed violation of the duties and obligations of marriage making intolerable the maintenance of a shared life".

Feminist groups Fondation des femmes (Women's Foundation) and Collectif féministe contre le viol (Feminist Collective against Rape) have backed her appeal, deploring the fact that French justice "continues to impose the marital duty" and "thus denying the right of women to consent or not to sexual relations".

"Marriage is not and should not be a sexual servitude," the joint statement says, pointing out that in 47 percent of the 94,000 recorded rapes and attempted rapes per year, the aggressor is the spouse or ex-spouse of the victim.

 

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URL 2023/03/21 13:06
<strong>... [Trackback]</strong> [...] Read More: thelocal.com/20210319/france-taken-to-european-court-after-divorce-ruling-that-woman-had-marital-duty-to-have-sex-with-her-husband/ [...]
Anonymous 2021/03/20 08:15
It's a reasonable statement from the judges.

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