The French Parliament has passed laws aimed at “ending marital duty”, or the obligation to have sex in a marriage.
A 2025 French survey found that 57% of female respondents said they have had marital sex without wanting it.
Introducing the bill, Equality Minister Paul Christophe said: “Marriage must be a commitment based on respect and mutual consent, not sexual servitude.”
It comes after the country’s sexual assault laws were amended to include consent in November 2025.
Background
Marital rape has been recognised as a crime in France since 1990. Since 2006, a perpetrator being a spouse has been considered an aggravating factor in sexual assault cases.
France has fault-based divorce. Not fulfilling “marital duty” has been used as a fault in divorce cases.
Multiple cases have attributed the blame to women for not engaging in sex with their husbands, ruling they were not fulfilling their “marital duty”.
In January 2025, a case against France was brought to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) by a woman who was found at fault in her divorce for “serious and repeated breach of marital duties” by not engaging in sex with her husband.
The Court determined the “very existence of such a marital obligation is contrary to sexual freedom”, as well as France’s “obligation... of combating domestic and sexual violence.”
The ECHR found the French court’s decision was a violation of the “right to respect for private and family life” in the European Convention on Human Rights.
Changes
This week, the French National Assembly voted to amend two articles of its civil code.
A civil code is a country’s set of laws related to citizens’ obligations in areas like marriage and property. Australia does not have a civil code.
The first change is: “Everyone respects the consent of the other” in the context of marriage.
The second change is: “Divorcing by fault cannot be based on the absence or refusal of sexual relations.”
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The French Parliament passed the bill unanimously.
During discussions in Parliament, member Maud Petit raised the ECHR judgment, saying the bill “responds to a strong expectation of our society... that consent is not an option, but a fundamental principle.”
Member Anne-Cécile Violland said she felt embarrassed “debating a topic that should no longer exist”, adding that “consent is everywhere, in marriage and outside”.
Consent laws
In November, consent was legally defined in sexual assault laws as “free and informed, specific, prior and revocable”.
A person’s “silence” or “absence of reaction” cannot be taken as consent.
It also states a person cannot have consented to sex if they were subject to “violence, coercion, threat or surprise”.
The laws came partly in response to the trial of Gisèle Pelicot’s offenders.
Pelicot was drugged and raped by her husband, as well as 50 other men.
All the abusers, including Pelicot’s husband, were found guilty of charges including rape.
During one of the trials, an offender told the court it was a “sexual act”, rather than a rape.
In response, Pelicot told the man in court: “When did I ever give you consent? Never.”
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