Trauma of Marital Rape
When one mentions the word rape, the tendency is to think of someone who is a stranger, an evil, malicious person. No one ever thinks of rape in the context of marriage. Women themselves find it difficult to believe that a husband can rape his wife. After all, how can a man be accused of rape if he is only availing of his conjugal rights?
Despite the unwillingness to recognise marital rape as a crime, the fact remains that marital rape is prevalent throughout society. Womens bodies are outraged, regardless of their educational qualifications, class or status. Women themselves dont make a noise about it or talk about their experiences. This is because cultures worldwide discourage their women from openly discussing sexual matters, let alone within marriage. Most women dont even think of rape by their husbands as marital rape.
Various subliminal messages across the media and through society encourage young boys to believe in the sexual availability of women. Men begin to believe that decision-making is their sole prerogative, that their wives do not have any rights in most matters, that their wives are subject to them in every respect. Even educated persons, who would otherwise treat women with the utmost respect, would think nothing of having sex with their wives, against their wives wishes.
Social beliefs are only reinforced by the lacunae in the law. As of now, Indian law contains no provisions for helping abused wives and penalising guilty husbands. Women have no legal recourse. What is worse, women are not even aware that they dont have to meekly give in to their husbands demands.
According to section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, “sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, not being under 15 years of age, is not rape.” On the other hand, the Criminal Procedure Code states that `it is rape if the girl is not the wife of the man involved and is below 16! Which means that if the girl is not the wife of the man involved and is below 16, it is rape even if she consents. Whereas if she is a wife and below 15 years of age, it is not rape even if she does not consent.
A woman who has been raped by her husband cannot count on the legal system coming to her aid. Not only are there no laws to protect her interests, the large number of loopholes make it difficult for her to seek protection under the law. These include:
- Though protection of the dignity of women is a fundamental duty under the Constitution, domestic violence and rape do not come under the definition of dignity.
- A husband cannot be prosecuted for raping his wife because consent to matrimony presupposes consent to sexual intercourse.
Though women’s rights advocates secured a legal clause in 1983 under which it is unlawful for a man to have sexual intercourse with his separated wife, pending divorce, the courts are reluctant to sentence husbands in spite of the law.
Indian rape legislation (Penal Code 375) specifically exempts marital rape. This allows husbands to have complete sexual control over their wives, in direct contravention to Human Rights regulations. Only those married women who are separated from their husbands are covered by the rape legislation. The law simply echoes what social mores often take for granted: that women have no right to their own bodies; their will is subject to that of their husband.