French lawmakers on Wednesday, January 28, unanimously approved a bill aimed at abolishing the notion of “marital duty,” following pressure from women’s rights groups who argued it undermines sexual consent and enables marital rape.
The measure, backed by more than 120 members of the National Assembly, clarifies in the civil code that cohabitation does not create any obligation for spouses to engage in sexual relations. The cross-party bill now heads to the Senate for approval.
While France’s civil code outlines four duties of marriage – fidelity, support, assistance and cohabitation – it makes no reference to sexual obligation. However, past court rulings had sometimes interpreted cohabitation as implying a shared bed, allowing the concept of “marital duty” to persist in practice.
The issue drew renewed attention after a 2019 case in which a man was granted a divorce on the grounds that his wife had stopped having sex with him. Last year, Europe’s top human rights court ruled in the woman’s favour, stating that refusing sex should not be treated as fault in divorce proceedings.
France also strengthened protections last year by formally embedding the principle of consent into its legal definition of rape, aligning with reforms already adopted in countries including the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden.
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