Marital rape is an act of sexual intercourse without the consent of the spouse. It is a part of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Marital rape is more widely experienced by women, though not exclusively. Marital rape is often a chronic form of violence for the victim which takes place within abusive relations.The causes leading to marital rape are -- dominance of the husband, illeteracy prevalent amongst Indian women(like considering their husbands God) and sexual dissonance between the couple. Woman may not be interested in sex for reasons that are clear only to her and may refuse her husband. In my opinion, men are generally more oversexed than women are. So when the man is denied sex, he treats it as an insult to his manhood. From my point of view the prevailing laws against marital rape are not satisfactory. The law states that “Sexual intercourse by man with his own wife, the wife not being under 15 years of age, is not rape.” Though the age should not be a factor of deciding marital rape since any women can be its victim and that can severely damage her mentally while violating her rights. Even women should be made aware of their rights so that she feels empowered to deny the sex when she does not want to have it. The law can help only when the women are ready to fight it.
Inference: Prevailing laws are not sufficient to prevent marital rape though first women should be willing to fight against it.
Anamika Verma
Marital rape is a crime in which one partner performs sexual intercourse with his/her partner without consent.Marital rape in India is not even considered a crime. Men in India are guilty of such acts than women. Marriage is considered sacred here in India where wife is assumed to serve her husband in every way possible. .A women finds herself helpless in such situations since her family does not support her while asking her to remain silent about it since they perceive nothing wrong in this. Nowadays women are independent and confident, but that pokes our typical Indian men's ego. So all he does is rape her to show his ego.
Strict laws can help somehow only if the victim is aware of her rights and brave enough to stand for her. But I think most importantly, men need to understand that we all are equal. Women aren't slaves they are humans and deserve love and respect.
Inference: Man need to understand and respect women while women should be made aware of her rights. Women need to get up and fight for their cause.
Damini Pillai
In Indian society the process of making a girl/girl-ing starts from the very beginning according to the norms and conditions lay down by the patriarchal society. A girl is conditioned and molded in such a way that she considers her husband to be on a pedestal, she is taught that a husband is a 'God' or 'Devta', he cannot do wrong and it's considered sacred to follow the instructions given by him to a wife. When a husband forcefully tries to establish a sexual intercourse without the consent of wife, it is considered as marital rape. The causes for increase in marital rape can be -- mental disorder, frustration. It could be the effect of porn addiction. I feel if a man is mentally and physically sound then he would not behave like an animal committing marital rape. There are laws against marital rape but most of the time people don't go to court for justice, they consider family honor and social status more important.The simple ways which we must encourage in society are: we must promote yoga for mental and physical health, so that we don't behave like animals, proper sex education program should be promoted through school's and NGO's in villages as well as cities.The girls should be educated and encouraged to know their rights and made bold enough to speak for themselves. This could be done in schools and colleges.The beauty of a marital relationship is when both the husband and wife equally value each other, respect each other's choices and mutual consent in anything they act upon.
Inference: man should work on their mental and physical health to avoid succumbing to thoughts of such crimes. Girls should be educate to know their rights. Respect should bethebasis of a marriage.
Fiza Ibrahim
Marital rape occurs when an individual commits a sexual act without the consent of their spouse or their ex-spouse, or against their will. Patriarchal society easily accepts domestic violence. Man still thinks they can assert their will on women unconditionally and it is the duty of women to obey him. Social condition is such that it is difficult to marry off females due to dowry and arrange marriages within caste. So a female is conditioned in a way that they should stay in marriages, never give up, be dutiful and pleasing to man. Due to Sluggish laws there is no fear among men. And in society there is psychology to compromise rather than seek a punishment for the guilty. So convictions of domestic violence are few. Woman is still poor, they don't have lands, houses or business. Women are not independent. They end up being weaker sex and can't self defend in confinement of home. Social and economic status of women is still low. Lack of sex education and easy access of pornographic sites on internet and on handheld mobile devices are reasons which are responsible for marital rapes. There is immunity in Indian law for marital rape.The offence of marital rape has not been sufficiently accounted for in the law. The law does not punish rape within marriage if the woman is above fifteen years of age. And quantum of punishment in domestic violence is very low.
Inference: Due to sluggish laws there is no fear in man before committing such crimes. Women are not self-dependent and thus are treated as weaker sex in the society who has to obey man.
Saloni Choudhary
Marital rape is defined as any unwanted sexual acts by a spouse or ex-spouse, committed without consent and/or against a person's will, obtained by force, or threat of force, intimidation, or when a person is unable to consent. The key word here is 'consent'. Going by that, marital rape is non-consensual sex with one's spouse. In India most of us think that when a woman marries she surrenders, among other things, her sexuality to her husband. In other words she is expected to satisfy his sexual urges whenever he wants. And she must never express her urges. God forbid! That's not good sanskaars! Also there is no education about consent in context of sex. We don't teach it in schools and we don't talk about it in our homes, since it will be against our sanskaari culture. So we have a husband who thinks it is within his rights to force sex on his wife, and a society who supports his thinking. This leads to marital rape. The saddest part is that in India marital rape is not recognized as a crime. And the prevailing laws are not sufficient enough at all. This is just one more way we Indians discriminate against half our population, hiding behind the excuses of 'culture' and phrases like 'marriage is sacred in India'.
Inference: In India women are expected to be submissive to man's desires after marriage. We live in a society where there are different standards of morality for man and women. prevailing laws in society are insufficient stop this.
Geetanjali Singh
Marital Rape is essentially forcing a spouse to engage in sexual intercourse without consent. It is basically a gender-neutral crime, though often understood to be female-directed offence.The causes can be--marital tension, abusive husband, economic oppression resulting in frustration channelised towards women in the form of sexual abuse, orthodoxy which says that sexual intercourse is always consensual in a marriage. It is not that marital rape cannot be prosecuted. We have rape laws and laws against cruelty towards women. However, proving marital rape requires strong circumstantial evidence, very much like Adultery, and this will also require revelation of communication between husband and wife which is deemed confidential in the eyes of law unless consent is given from both sides.The problem with marital rape is that legislators and many judges find that it is a herculean task to prove marital rape.
Inference: Laws against marital rape are insufficient in the sense that many judges and legislators consider it to be a herculean task to prove marital rape.
Ayushi Kushwaha
Marital Rape is a form of sexual assault and unwanted sexual harassment happening after the marriage, when a husband without a mutual consent has sex with his wife, even if wife is not comfortable in doing so. crime against women in general is increasing which should be stopped. Marriage is a thing with mutual consent, but that doesn’t mean that husband can always get the wife submissive and wife doesn’t have to bow in front of her husband , and if husband forces himself upon his wife without her consent, it is called marital rape. Marriages at young age is the reason for marital rape. People who turn out to be 19-20 are getting married , and lack of maturity and no understanding between the couples leads to marital sex . Pervert men who always want sex from their wives thinks they have got license to have sex whenever they want to after marriage which shows their uneducated mindset. Increase in marital rapes are also because of no laws on marital rapes . On October 11, court had a debate that marital rape case can’t be taken into court if the couple is not a minor , and further no discussions took place. Prevailing laws can’t solve the cases for marital rapes , so the court must take severe actions and build modifications in the POCSO Act , and certain modifications in Section 375 of the IPC, so that these marital rapes can be eliminated.
Inference: Laws made to prevent marital rape are not sufficient and should be modified. Men should not take marriages to be license to have sex with wives whenever they want to. this reflects an uneducated mindset.
Shantanu Bhatia
Marital rape is defined as non consent sex with your partner the causes can be-- stress, male ego, dissatisfaction due to difference in monetary independence. No I don’t think so laws are effective enough
Inference: Laws in India are not effective enough to prevent marital rape.
Indrani Chandra.
Marital rape is considered as in intercourse with the spouse without consent. It is not always necessary that it involves violence. But usually the consent of one is absent. Causes of marital rape can be early marriages of the females and the age differences that might be present between the two. The lack of knowledge that women have about the rules prevailing in the society might also be a cause as females believe they are married and feel hesitant to talk about it or voice the issue. In most of the developed countries there are laws regarding the marital rape. But in India the laws aren’t stringent enough to fight the rising issue.
Inference: In India laws regarding marital rape are not stringent enough to prevent such crimes. Females in India are largely unaware and hesitant to voice such crimes.
Nidhi Raghuvanshi
Marital rape is an intolerable predicament, a heinous act of perversion that calls for absolute stern measures and eradication. Psychotic morons are primarily the cause of marital rapes. Though harsh as it may sound but our women need to stand up for their dignity and shrug off blind superstitious belief in their “life-long relationship” with such husbands. Strength begets strength ladies and you are strong! How dare a dork tell on you? The prevailing law doesn’t seem much help so far as marital rapes are concerned. Section 375 of Indian Penal Code that operates in the case of marital rape does not encompass the various situations of marital rape. “Forced sex is crime for only a wife under 15” sounds horrendously naive as it does! Putting marital rape under domestic violence doesn’t lend justice either. Asking marital rape victims to take recourse to the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 (PWDVA) is merely a satisfactory attempt. A criminal offence as this cannot be met justice with a ludicrous section 375 of IPC. It requires serious additions, correction and amendment.
Inference: Strength begets strength thus women need to rise against any crime against them. They are not weak. The laws prevalent are insufficient and naïve thus need amendments.
Bhavini Dubey.
Compiled by Niharika Verma
The unwanted sexual act by a spouse or ex-spouse committed without the consent and/or against a person’s will is termed as “marital rape”. There are also certain situations where such consent is obtained forcibly or through intimidation when a person is unable to consent. Marital Rape is a much tabooed concept widely prevalent in India. In a country, which continues to be bound by means of its static regressive orthodox ideals, revolutionary social dynamism appears a utopian paradise. Consciousness that rape is committed even after marriage and its nomenclature: “marital rape” continues to be enigmatic to many. Speaking of the factors that causes marital rape, there are number of them –
a. Dominance – when discord between the spouses increases, the husband try to assert him by forcing himself upon the woman. In attempt to one-up his wife, he will use the ultimate weapon in his arsenal to demean and degrade her. While the act of rape itself is heinous, it is often the elaborate process of insulting, attacking and disrobing the victim that makes marital rape particularly demeaning for the woman.
b. Sexual dissonance between the couple – sometimes the woman may not be interested in sex for reasons that are clear only to her and may refuse her husband. Men are generally oversexed than women are. So when the man is denied sex, he treats it as an insult to his manhood. According to the Indian government, marital rape cannot be applied in India, as marriage is considered a sacramental institution. "The criminality of marital rape does not necessarily mean that these laws are enforced in practice, with lack of public awareness, as well as reluctance or outright refusal of authorities to prosecute being common in many countries."
To sum up, why should marital rape should not be criminalized in India, a woman’s decision to have or not to have sex should be accepted and respected regardless of her marital status. Not considering the criminality of marital rape is one of the vices that is still left in the Indian legal system rendering married women incapable.