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 court said on Thursday, reigniting a debate in France over women’s rights.

The European court of human rights (ECHR) sided Thursday with a French woman who had stopped having sex with her husband, saying she should not have been considered at fault on those grounds in their divorce.

Europe's rights court on Thursday ruled in favour of a 69-year-old Frenchwoman whose husband had obtained a divorce on the grounds that she had stopped having sex with him. In 2004, she stopped having sex with him and in 2012 petitioned for divorce.

The EU's Court of Human Rights ruled that a 69-year-old French woman whose husband was granted a divorce after she stopped having sex with him was not "at fault", rejecting an earlier decision by

"This decision is all the more fundamental given that almost one in two rapes is committed by a spouse or partner," says the woman's defence team