Divorcee who stopped having sex with husband wins appeal in major legal milestone
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The case has reignited a debate in France over women's rights. A woman who was blamed by French courts for her divorce because she no longer had sex with her husband, has won an appeal in Europe's top human rights court. The case has reignited a debate in France over women's rights.
![[Gisele Pelicot leaves the courthouse after hearing the verdict of the court that sentenced her ex-husband to the maximum term of 20 years jail]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/20/17/SEI233755260.jpg)
The French woman - identified as Ms H.W, born in 1955 - brought her case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2021 after exhausting legal avenues in France almost a decade following the divorce. The ECHR ruled the French courts had violated the woman's right to respect for private and family life.
"In the present case, the Court could not identify any reason capable of justifying this interference by the public authorities in the area of sexuality," it said in a statement. In a statement released by her lawyer, Lilia Mhissen, H.W celebrated her legal victory.
"I hope 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 rape culture and promote a true culture of consent and mutual respect.".
Mhissen said the ECHR ruling has no impact on H.W.'s divorce, which is definitive. However, she said it will have a major impact on French law, preventing French judges from making similar divorce rulings in the future. "This decision marks the abolition of the marital duty and the archaic, canonical vision of the family," she said in a statement. "Courts will finally stop interpreting French law through the lens of canon law and imposing on women the obligation to have sexual relations within marriage.".
