France Officially Ends Marital 'Duty' to Have Sex

France just took a powerful stand for consent by officially ending the medieval notion that marriage creates a sexual obligation.

The National Assembly approved a bill this week that adds new language to the country's civil code. It makes crystal clear that marriage doesn't create any duty to have sex, and refusing sex can never be used against someone in a divorce.

The change might sound obvious in 2025, but it closes a legal loophole that's caused real harm. While France never explicitly mentioned "conjugal duty" in its laws, some judges interpreted the phrase "community of living" to include sexual obligations.

In one shocking 2019 case, a woman was blamed in her divorce for refusing sex with her husband for several years. She fought back and took her case to the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled in her favor last year and condemned France for the decision.

Green MP Marie-Charlotte Garin, who sponsored the bill, put it perfectly. "Marriage cannot be a bubble in which consent to sex is regarded as definitive and for life," she said.

The law builds on France's recent progress on consent. Last November, France expanded its rape definition to include any sexual act without "informed, specific, anterior and revocable" consent. Before 1990, men could actually argue that marriage implied automatic consent.

Why This Inspires

This legal change represents something bigger than courtroom procedure. It's about fundamentally respecting that consent doesn't disappear at the altar and that every person maintains bodily autonomy throughout their life.

The timing matters too. The 2024 Mazan trial, where Gisèle Pelicot was drugged and assaulted by dozens of men her husband invited, shocked France and sparked nationwide conversations about consent. Several defendants claimed they assumed consent based on her husband's word, revealing how dangerous outdated assumptions can be.

Feminist campaigners hope the new law will help shift stubborn cultural attitudes that still linger in some communities. By removing any legal ambiguity, France is sending an unmistakable message that consent matters in every context, no exceptions.

While judges can no longer make rulings like the 2019 case anyway thanks to the European Court decision, putting this protection directly into French law matters. It gives everyone clear language and clear rights.

France is showing the world that updating laws to match modern values of respect and consent isn't just possible, it's essential.