At first glance, this might seem amusing:

An Italian woman whose angry husband refused for 7 years to have sex with her was awarded divorce damages by Italy's high court this week.

Francesco launched his "sex strike" in the early 1990s to punish his wife, Piera, for taking sides against him in a family dispute over money, according to details of the case reported by local media.

They bitterly separated in 2000 and Francesco, still convinced that she was responsible for the broken marriage, refused to make support payments demanded by Italian courts and repeatedly appealed against them.

But the highest court ruled that Francesco's sexual punishment did not fit the crime, and doomed Piera to perpetual frustration.

"The refusal of affection or sexual attention must constitute the blame for the separation," the court ruled.

For Piera, "satisfaction in life (was) impossible ... along with fulfilment of marriage in its deepest sense."

So in Italy, where they keep trying to lower the age of consent to 14 years old, "denial of affection" can have financial consequences. What if it had been she who denied sex to him? Would the court have ruled that she was obligated to "put out"? Does the state have an interest in making sure couples are fucking regularly?

The statement that "satisfaction in life (was) impossible" for Piera because she wasn't getting laid is just about the most ridiculously patronizing remark a man could make in this case. This judge must really be impressed with himself, or at least part of himself.

Still, this is an interesting twist on what the conservatives in America call "family values" (which is code for "barefoot mommy in the kitchen"). I could just see all these sanctimonious wingnuts facing financial levies if they don't "service" their wives enough. It's one way to protect the "sanctity of marriage" from the philanderings of men (especially politicians). Too much time and virility spent on mistresses and private porn collections (to monitor the filth in our culture, doncha know?) could mean wifey doesn't get enough, and then there's hell -- and fines -- to pay!

...Naw....on second thought, alimony is alimony, and divorce can be salvation for many. It's probably best to just leave the sex quotas out of it!

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