France Rewrites Marriage Law to End "Conjugal Duty"

Marriage no longer implies a sexual obligation. That's the message France's National Assembly sent this week by formally abolishing the centuries-old concept of "conjugal duty" from its legal framework.

The bill, approved Wednesday, adds explicit language to France's civil code stating that "community of living" between spouses does not create an "obligation for sexual relations." It also prevents the lack of sexual relations from being used as grounds for fault-based divorce.

While the practical impact may be limited, the symbolic weight is enormous. Green MP Marie-Charlotte Garin, who sponsored the bill, framed it as dismantling "a system of domination and predation by husband on wife." Her argument: marriage cannot be treated as permanent, irrevocable consent to sex.

The Medieval Origins of Modern Problems

The concept of conjugal duty never explicitly appeared in French law, yet it lingered like a ghost in the legal system. Its roots trace back to medieval church doctrine, when marriage was viewed as a contract that included sexual obligations.

French civil code currently defines marital duties as "respect, fidelity, support and assistance," along with commitment to a "community of living." But some judges interpreted that final phrase broadly, occasionally ruling that refusing sex constituted a breach of marital obligations.

The most notorious case came in 2019, when a French court granted a man a fault-based divorce after his wife allegedly withheld sex for several years. The ruling implied the woman was at fault for the marriage's breakdown—a decision that would prove legally untenable.

Europe Steps In

The 2019 case didn't end in French courts. The woman appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, which condemned France in 2023 for allowing sexual refusal to justify fault-based divorce. The ECHR's ruling effectively made similar judgments impossible, rendering this week's legislative change more symbolic than practical.

Yet timing matters. The new law arrives in the wake of the Mazan trial, where Gisèle Pelicot was repeatedly raped by men her husband had invited while she was drugged unconscious. Several defendants claimed they assumed consent based on the husband's invitation—a defense that horrified the nation and sparked conversations about consent within marriage.

Beyond France's Borders

France joins a growing number of countries explicitly rejecting the notion that marriage implies ongoing sexual consent. The move reflects broader shifts in how legal systems understand bodily autonomy and consent.

Since November 2024, France has also expanded its rape definition to require "informed, specific, anterior and revocable" consent, moving away from the previous focus on violence or coercion. The law now explicitly states that silence doesn't equal consent.

These changes mirror similar reforms across Europe and North America, where legal systems increasingly recognize that consent cannot be assumed based on relationship status. The shift represents a fundamental rethinking of marriage from a contract that transfers certain rights to a partnership between equals.

Cultural Resistance and Progress

Legal reform often outpaces cultural change. While French law now clearly states that marriage doesn't create sexual obligations, changing deeply ingrained social attitudes takes longer.

The persistence of conjugal duty concepts in parts of French society became starkly apparent during the Mazan trial. Defense arguments suggesting that marriage or relationships implied consent revealed how medieval thinking still influences modern attitudes.

Women's rights advocates see the new law as essential for challenging these persistent beliefs. By explicitly rejecting conjugal duty in statute, lawmakers hope to influence not just legal proceedings but social understanding of consent and marriage.