Moroccan court rules against husband suing wife for refusing sexual intercourse

The Rabat family court has issued a ruling dismissing a man’s request to force his wife to “respect her marital duties,” without her consent.

The plantif argued that his wife’s refusal to engage in sexual intercourse is illegal, calling it “disobedience.” The ruling, a true judicial precedent in a region where sex is considered a man’s right in marriage, sets a new jurisprudence for Moroccan women across the country.

The case, dating back to July 18, 2019, saw the husband filing the lawsuit before the Family Judiciary Department in Rabat, and requesting an “expedited, immediate enforcement,” claiming the defendant, his wife, has refused to engage sexually with the husband despite being legally married “for a long time.”

The court dismissed the plaintiff’s request, arguing that sexual intercourse “is a right and duty of both the husband and wife,” saying that the wife’s refusal is in itself an exercise of the said right.

In addition, the judge ruled that “the goal of sexual intercourse within the institution of marriage is not only to satisfy instinctive desires and a transient moment,” but is rather an expression of attraction between parties and a sense of common living and experience, which can only be legal when both parties are willing and consensual.

Lastly, the court affirmed that “sexual intercourse may not be carried forcibly, through a court ruling, as this directly contradicts the religious purposes of sexual intercourse, which is to bring pleasure to both spouses in order to consolidate the relationship between them.”

On the basis of these arguments, the judicial institution saw it impossible to force the wife to sleep with her husband, in an unprecedented ruling in an unprecedented case.