Rape, by a stranger or by a marital or common law partner is a criminal offense in numerous countries. Although there are laws in place to protect women, there are cultural norms and perceived social stigma attached to rape that often discourage the reporting of marital rape and prosecution is rare in many countries. Bottom line, husbands raping wives is a horrible crime and victims need help.
Historical Overview
In the United States, rape in a marriage was considered legal in every state until 1976. Even though this is a crime in all states, some states don't consider marital rape to be as serious as stranger rape.
Bill C-127 came into effect in January 1983 making sexual assault against a wife an offense in Canada. A woman can also charge her husband with aggravated sexual assault if the rape included a beating. Rape was removed from the Criminal Code and replaced with sexual assault. The intention behind this decision was to avoid the moral stigma connected to rape. This terms also stresses the violent nature of this sexual act.
In 1993 the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights established marital rape as a human rights violation.
Effects of Marital Rape
The issues around recovering from marital rape are complex. The most difficult factor is that the attack was committed by a person who is supposed to be trusted and is loved. Healing can take a long time and is difficult.
In some cases, a woman does not recognize that she was sexually violated because the perpetrator is her spouse. Her feelings get thrown into a vortex and she doesn't know what to think anymore. Chances are, the wife still loves her husband but there's hate, anger, bitterness, broken trust, denial, a deep sense of loss and fear for the future.
The loss of control over her life becomes an issue. If forced sex becomes an ongoing pattern the feeling of powerlessness becomes intense and being able to feel safe in the confines of the home is totally shattered.
Marital rape receives little public attention and is the most serious form of violence between spouses. According to Raquel Kennedy Bergen, Ph.D., she stated in a research paper entitled, “Marital Rape: New Research and Directions” that research indicates that women who are raped by their partners are likely to experience multiple assaults and often suffer long-term physical and emotional trauma.
Getting Help
According to Bergen, despite the prevalence of marital rape, this form of violence receives relatively little attention from social scientists, practitioners and the criminal justice system. No matter how much information is available on marital rape, it does not negate the fact that rape is rape.
If you are a woman who has been raped by her spouse, talk to a trained counselor at sex assault hotline as soon as possible. Local hotline phone numbers can be Googled or found in the front of the phonebook.
National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
Sources:
Marital Rape by Barb Kiffe
Marital Rape: New Research and Directions, Raquel Kennedy Bergen Ph.D.
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