In the everlasting battle of the sexes, man has since time immemorial tried to subjugate woman through whatever means he could lay his hands on. Marital rape is one of the most potent weapons in his armamentarium. In United States researchers estimate that 10% to 14% of married women experience rape in marriage. When researchers examined the prevalence of different types of rape, they found that marital rape accounts for approximately 25% of all rapes. It is not recognized as an offence in many countries of the world. In effect it means a man who rapes his wife has committed no crime. But winds of change which began blowing slowly in some countries initially, are spreading.

The latest country to see light is Thailand. The Thai national assembly recently passed the nation’s first marital rape bill. Offenders now face up to 20 years in jail and a fine of 40,000 baht ($1,156; £620) for raping their spouses - the same penalty that exists for non-marital rape. The remarkable part of the Thai law is that marital rape by either spouse is recognized, though cases of men raped by wives are almost unheard of.

Worldwide about twenty countries have laws dealing with marital rape. In others they do not exist. This is because of archaic [and nauseating] notions that a man’s wife is his property and he can do whatever he thinks fit with her. This kind of thinking is most prevalent in Islamic countries. In Pakistan there is no law against marital rape. Even rape laws are heavily laden against women. Statutes known as the Hudood ordinances, based on sharia law, currently operate in Pakistan. They require a female rape victim to produce four male witnesses to corroborate her account, or she risks facing a new charge of adultery. Forget about marital rape.

This kind of chauvinist thinking, which delayed marital rape laws, was imported into the US by the traditional British thinking which came along with the emigrants. It was typified by Sir Matthew Hale, a former Chief Justice in England. According to him,

the husband cannot be guilty of a rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto her husband, which she cannot retract.

In the US the Markland letter, published by a Kansas newspaper in 1887 stirred the nation’s conscience and set it thinking about the horrors of rape in marriage. The letter read,

About a year ago F— gave birth to a baby, and was severely torn by the instruments in incompetent hands. She has gone through three operations and all failed...last night when her husband came down, forced himself into her bed, and the stitches were torn from her healing flesh, leaving her in worse condition than ever...”

But it was only in 1976 that US gave shape to laws to reign in such brutality. Today though all the states recognize marital rape, but only 17 of them give no exemptions. In the rest of the 33 states, when his wife is most vulnerable (e.g. she is mentally or physically impaired, unconscious, asleep etc.) and is legally unable to consent, a husband is exempt from prosecution. Marital rape is still considered a lesser crime than rape.

In England, earlier as a general rule, a man could not have been held to be guilty as a principal of rape upon his wife, for the wife is in general unable to retract the consent to sexual intercourse, which is a part of the contract of marriage. However, the marital rape exemption was abolished in its entirety in 1991 after the R. v. R case.

In Mexico, the country’s Congress ratified a bill that makes domestic violence punishable by law. If convicted, marital rapists could be imprisoned for 16 years. In Sri Lanka, recent amendments to the Penal Code recognize marital rape but only with regard to judicially separated partners, and there exists great reluctance to pass judgment on rape in the context of partners who are actually living together.
In India hope came with the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005. Even then a woman cannot appeal against marital rape in a criminal cases court, but can only file a civil case asking for separation from her spouse. But at least the act recognizes marital rape.

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