Reuters
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A woman, accused by French courts of being responsible for her divorce because she no longer had sexual relations with her husband, has won her appeal before Europe’s highest human rights court, announced Thursday the court, thus relaunching the debate in France on women’s rights.
The Frenchwoman – identified as Ms HW, born in 1955 – took her case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2021 after exhausting legal avenues in France almost a decade after the divorce.
The ECHR ruled that the French courts had violated a woman’s right to respect for private and family life.
“In the present case, the Court was unable to identify any reason likely to justify this interference by public authorities in the area of sexuality,” she said in a press release.
The ECHR’s decision comes during a period of soul-searching in France following the high-profile case of Gisèle Pélicot, whose husband was found guilty of drugging his wife and inviting dozens of men into their home to rape her. The affair shocked the world, reignited thorny debates on women’s rights in France and made Gisèle Pélicot a feminist icon.
In a statement released by his lawyer, Lilia Mhissen, HW celebrated his legal victory.
“I hope that this decision will mark a turning point in the fight for women’s rights in France,” she said. “It is now imperative that France, like other European countries, such as Portugal or Spain, take concrete measures to eradicate this culture of rape and promote a true culture of consent and mutual respect.”
Mhissen said the ECHR ruling had no impact on HW’s divorce, which is final. However, she said it would have a major impact on French law, preventing French judges from issuing similar divorce decisions in the future.
“This decision marks the abolition of marital duty and the archaic and canonical vision of the family,” she said in a statement. “The courts will finally stop interpreting French law through the prism of canon law and imposing on women the obligation to have sexual relations within the framework of marriage. »
The French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, which represented the French government in the matter, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The woman, who married her husband in 1984 and had four children with him, wanted a divorce, but contested being held responsible for the breakup, arguing that it was an unfair intrusion into her private life and a violation of his physical integrity.
She cited health problems and threats of violence from her husband to explain why she had no more intimate relationships starting in 2004.
The fact that one of the couple’s children was mentally and physically disabled added additional stress to the marriage.
HW, originally from Chesnay near Paris, said she was deeply traumatized by this judgment, which “legitimizes a family environment where the privacy and dignity of women are ignored and violated”.
HW’s case was supported by two French women’s activist groups.
Emmanuelle Piet, head of one of them, the Feminist Collective Against Rape, said she was delighted.
“MS. W spent 15 years fighting this battle, and it ended in victory, well done,” she said. “When you are forced to have sex within marriage, It’s rape.”