France is set to legally abolish the outdated notion of “conjugal rights,” which suggested that marriage created a duty to have sex. A bill approved by the National Assembly clarifies that a “community of living” between spouses does not imply any obligation for sexual relations. It also prevents lack of sexual activity from being used as grounds in fault-based divorce cases.
The law is largely symbolic, as the European Court of Human Rights has already condemned France for allowing refusal of sex to justify divorce. Still, supporters hope it will challenge lingering societal attitudes that suggest wives owe sexual consent to their husbands.
Green MP Marie-Charlotte Garin, the bill’s sponsor, said, “Marriage cannot be a bubble in which consent to sex is regarded as definitive and for life,” adding that allowing such a duty to persist promotes domination and abuse.
While the French civil code has long required respect, fidelity, support, and assistance between spouses, sexual relations were never explicitly mentioned. Judges had sometimes interpreted the idea of “community of living” to include sexual activity, leading to controversial rulings, such as a 2019 case where a woman faced divorce penalties for withholding sex later overturned following an ECHR ruling.
The change comes amid broader legal reforms: marital rape is now explicitly criminalized in France, and the definition of rape has been expanded to include acts without “informed, specific, anterior and revocable” consent, making silence or lack of reaction irrelevant.
