‘Sex Is Not a Duty’: Court’s Ruling on Woman Refusing to Sleep with Husband

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): A landmark ruling in France regarding the role of sex in marriage has sparked a debate about women's rights. The case involved a French woman who was initially held responsible for divorce because she refused to engage in sexual relations with her husband. This decision led her to appeal to Europe's top human rights court which ruled in her favor.

The woman, identified as Miss H.W., born in 1955 had faced legal hurdles after her divorce nearly a decade ago. In 2021, she approached the European Court of Human Rights which ruled that French courts had violated her right to respect for her private and family life. The court stated, "Sex is not a marital duty" emphasizing that there was no justification for interfering in her sexuality. The ruling has reignited discussions on women's rights in France with people expressing differing opinions.

According to reports, the French woman married in 1984 and had four children. However, after some time she began seeking a divorce. She disagreed with being blamed for the split and argued that it would be an intrusion into her private life and a violation of her physical desires. The woman revealed that she stopped having relations with her husband after 2004, citing health issues and violence from her husband as reasons.