Criminalizing Marital Rapes

“For many years after her marriage, Rashmi believed that frequent vaginal bleeding after intercourse was a normal phenomenon. Married at the age of 17, her husband would assault her six to seven times a day.

At 19, when she conceived her first child, she was forced to have intercourse till the eighth month of her pregnancy. However, things took a turn for the worse when barely 15 days after she had a C-section surgery, her husband assaulted her so badly that it led to the rupture of her stitches.

She wanted to raise her voice against her husband but was mocked by her mother. "This is normal. Husbands don't rape you? They are allowed to do all that," she was told.  (Source: Times of India report)

The above case, which is quite typical of developing countries like India, represents a gruesome evidence of marital rape. Before discussing the matter in detail, let us try to understand the meaning of marital rape. Marital rape refers to an unwanted intercourse by a spouse with his wife obtained by force, threat of force, or physical violence, or when she is unable to give consent. It is a non-consensual intercourse usually accompanied by physical violence. Once widely condoned or ignored by law and society, marital rape is now repudiated by international conventions and is criminalized in around 52 countries of the world. The main factor which led to it being outlawed in developed countries was a wave of 19^th century feminist movement demanding a right of a woman to have control over her own body. Unfortunately, marital rape still remains legal in many countries like India. The issue was recently in limelight when a man accused of administering drugs to his wife and then having forced sexual intercourse was acquitted by an Indian court on the ground of married couple being outside the ambit of rape laws. According to UN Population Fund, more than 2/3rds of married women in India, aged between 15 and 49 have been beaten, raped or forced to provide sex. This is because the Indian laws do not penalize rape within marriages. Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code explicitly states that: “Sexual intercourse by man with his own wife, the wife not being under 15 years of age, is not rape.”

Keeping marital rape out of the ambit of rape laws reflects the parochial, archaic notion of marriage and sexuality that men have more intense sexual desire as compared to a woman, that he has a right to demand sex from his wife and the latter is expected to be submissive to him in all respects. Marital rape can have adverse consequences on the victim. Often, the marital rape characterized by physical violence, which can lead to injuries to the vaginal and anal areas, lacerations, soreness, bruising, torn muscles, fatigue, and vomiting. The psychological effects can be severe leading to low self esteem and emotional trauma for the wife. Unlike in other cases of rape, where a victim can dissociate from her rapist, in case of marital rape, the victim has no option but to continue living with her husband and be subjected to traumatic experiences repeatedly.

The Verma Committee formed to suggest amendments to rape laws in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya rape case had recommended the marital rapes to be brought within the ambit of rape laws. The 246^th Law Commission report had made similar observations. But the government retracted perhaps fearing that it would damage the institution of arranged marriages, most of them being based on financial deals. How foolish it was of the government to let arranged marriages sustain by force? Perhaps it failed to understand the true meaning of marriage in line with contemporary times. Marriage, in the context of today’s world, means a sacrosanct bond between spouses based on mutual trust, love and respect towards one another. Truly we are hypocrites if we do not give women, a fundamental right of decision making regarding intercourse and control over their own bodies, even though we keep harping on women empowerment.

            Criminalizing marital rapes is the need of the hour especially to keep pace with the changing times and considering the fact that it is being increasingly outlawed in many developed countries. The UN has already taken cognizance of this crime way back in 1993 when High Commissioner for Human Rights published the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which recognizes marital rape as a human rights violation.

Around the globe, the right to self sexual determination of women is increasingly being recognized within the ambit of women rights. In 2012, the then High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay stated that:

"Violations of women's human rights are often linked to their sexuality and reproductive role. (...) In many countries, married women may not refuse to have sexual relations with their husbands, and often have no say in whether they use contraception. (...) Ensuring that women have full autonomy over their bodies is the first crucial step towards achieving substantive equality between women and men. Personal issues - such as when, how and with whom they choose to have sex, and when, how and with whom they choose to have children - are at the heart of living a life in dignity."

It is time for India to follow suit. But we need to also remember that any law can only be successfully implemented if it is preceded by awareness campaigns building public opinion for it. It would be a cumbersome task to root out age-old cultural notions of women submissiveness before enacting the law against marital rapes, as most wives do not mind of being subjected to marital rapes by mistakenly assuming it as their husband’s right. For this, we need to educate people especially women in the rural areas of their rights and privileges. Indian education system also needs to be revamped incorporating gender issues and imparting the notion of quality between both sexes. It would be a long way to go but we should let pessimism overpower us if we want to be hailed as a truly progressive nation.