Why French lawmakers say sex is not an obligation in marriage
French lawmakers have unanimously backed a bill aimed at ending the long-standing notion of “marital duty,” emphasising that marriage does not create an obligation to have sex.
The proposed law, approved on Wednesday by the National Assembly, clarifies that living together as spouses does not imply any requirement to maintain sexual relations. The move follows criticism from women’s rights groups, who argue that the idea of marital duty undermines sexual consent and ignores the reality of marital rape.
More than 120 members of parliament supported the cross-party bill, which will now be debated in the Senate. “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. Marriage cannot be a bubble in which consent to sex is regarded as definitive and for life,” said the bill’s sponsor, Green MP Marie-Charlotte Garin.
France’s civil code currently lists four duties linked to marriage fidelity, support, assistance and cohabitation, but makes no mention of a sexual obligation. However, older court rulings have sometimes interpreted cohabitation as meaning 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 because his wife had stopped having sex with him.
Last year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of the woman, stating that a wife who refuses sex should not be considered “at fault” in divorce proceedings.
The bill comes as France continues to update its laws around sexual violence. In 2024, the country adopted the principle of consent in its legal definition of rape, following similar reforms in countries such as Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
