Refusing sex is not adequate grounds for divorce, says human rights court

By Eleanor Steffen

A top international human rights court has ruled that a French woman who refused sex with her husband is not at fault for their divorce, despite a previous ruling in a French court years earlier.

On Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights determined that the woman's "sexual freedom" and "right to bodily autonomy" overrode the supposed marital obligation that her husband argued were violated, says the Guardian.

In 2012, a French court ruled that the woman, referred to as H.W., was responsible for the deterioration of her marriage as a result of her lack of physical intimacy with her husband, according to NPR. Furthermore, her appeals were denied by both appeals court and the court of cassation, says NPR.

The ECHP's ruling, supported by two French feminist organizations, is substantial in the fight for women's rights in France, according to the Guardian. Eyes are now on France's judicial system and their approach to cases victimizing women. 

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