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submitted 2 weeks ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

France is to enshrine in law the end of so-called "conjugal rights" – the notion that marriage means a duty to have sex.

A bill approved on Wednesday in the National Assembly adds a clause to the country's civil code to make clear that "community of living" does not create an "obligation for sexual relations".

The proposed law also makes it impossible to use lack of sexual relations as an argument in fault-based divorce.

Though unlikely to have a major impact in the courts, supporters hope the law will help deter marital rape.

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[-] ByteJunk@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

No, no, there's a big change here.

Yes, divorces still go through as before, that doesn't change. What does change is the context of fault in the divorce.

If sex is a marital obligation, the party refusing it can be considered at fault for the marriage failing. This usually carries consequences when it comes to splitting the assets, with the judges usually penalising the party "at fault".

This makes it so that refusing to have sex cannot be grounds for being found at fault, and makes things more balanced.

[-] wpb@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Yes this is correct, we're in complete agreement there. The comment I was responding to worded it vaguely though, which made it sound like you cannot get a divorce because you have a sexless marriage. It made it sound like people were being forcibly kept married, which is false. You can get divorced because it's Tuesday, or because the moon is in retroflux. Holding your spouse responsible for those things is a different story, however.

For reference here's the part of the comment I replied to:

Should a person not be allowed to divorce if they fell out of love with their partner, ergo they turned out to have less or no more sex?

Emphasis mine.

[-] Prime@lemmy.sdf.org -1 points 2 weeks ago

Uh... Does this imply that in a sexless marriage one is allowed to have sex with a third party without incurring fault?

[-] ByteJunk@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

NO. It is, quite literally, the opposite. How do you misinterpreted it that badly?

A marriage is a legal contract, and it binds the parties to mutual support, fidelity, respect, and cohabitation.

This serves to clarify that sex is NOT included in that list of obligations, but do note that fidelity IS. You don't get to get to justify cheating with "I wasn't getting any...".

That said, the parties are obviously free to come to an agreement on what works best for them - and if that includes extramarital sex, then that's fine as long as both agree.

this post was submitted on 31 Jan 2026
58 points (96.8% liked)

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