Rabat – French lawmakers unanimously approved on Wednesday a bill that ends the idea of “marital duty,” a concept long criticized by women’s rights groups for undermining sexual consent and enabling marital rape. The new bill is part of a broader shift in France’s approach to sexual consent. Women’s rights groups welcomed the vote, saying it sends a clear message that marriage does not override an individual’s right to bodily autonomy and consent. Many countries are moving toward laws that put clear sexual consent at the center of rape and marital laws, but progress is uneven. Women’s rights activists say such reforms are important because they affirm that consent is necessary in all sexual relationships, including marriage, and affirm that marriage does not erase a person’s bodily autonomy.