Marital Rape - The Underestimated Sexual Assault

Marital rape is one of today's 'silent crimes'. It happens more often than we think but those who are victims of it do not speak out because of fear and the incorrect thought that it is not a crime at all because the perpetrator is one's spouse. Learn more about marital rape and fight for your right to say 'no'.

Marital rape is defined as a non-consensual sexual activity where the offender is the spouse of the victim. The non-consensual sexual activity includes intercourse, oral or anal sex, forced sexual behavior, or any other sexual act that leaves the victim degraded, humiliated, in pain, and/or unwanted.

Marital rape can also be referred to as spousal rape, wife rape, partner rape, or intimate partner sexual assault (IPSA). Legally, marital rape is classified to 3 types:

• Force-only rape where the offender uses only the necessary amount of force to coerce the victim.
• Violent or battering rape where the offender batters the victim before, during, or after the sexual assault.
• Sadistic or obsessive rape where the offender uses torture or perverse sexual acts for the assault and often involves pornography.

Unlike other types of rape though, laws against marital rape have been slow in advancement due to the widely held view that a woman surrenders her consent upon entering the marital relationship.

Moreover, cultural issues arise with some cultures treating the wife as a property of her husband and where a man cannot be prosecuted for damaging his own property. There is also the fear that wives can use false allegations of marital rape against their husbands for personal gain.

In December 1993 however, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights established marital rape as a human rights violation and a crime although not all UN member states recognized the declaration.

By 1997, it’s been reported that only 17 states criminalized marital rape. By 2003, all 50 states already did. To date, the United States is among the many countries that recognize marital rape as a crime with some states giving no distinction between marital rape and stranger rape.

Nevertheless, many countries and states continue to view marital rape as a lesser crime and perpetrators are often merely charged with related crimes such as assault, battery, spousal abuse, or domestic violence.

Marital Rape Statistics

Marital rape accounts for about 25% of all reported rape cases in the US. Yet, marital rape is considered as the most underreported type of rape. Estimates show, however, that 10% to 14% of women are raped by their husbands and many of these are also battered at the same time.

Women who are married to domineering men and are in a physically abusive relationship are more prone to marital rape. Pregnant, sick, and separated or divorced women are also at high risk of being raped by their spouse or ex-spouse.

Lasting Damages of Marital Rape

Victims of marital rape often experience physical and psychological damages as a result of the trauma. Sexual dysfunction, sleeping and eating disorders, infertility, miscarriages, broken bones, bruising, fatigue, depression, inability to trust and traumatic stress disorder are just among the problems that can root from marital rape.

Studies show that compared with stranger rape cases, victims who suffer from marital rape suffer more long-lasting trauma, which is aggravated by the lack of social justification that will lend support to the victim.

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