Marital rape is defined as sex without mutual agreement, which can occur through the vagina, anus or even the mouth. The definition is not consistent; it changes from one country to another (Bergen, 1996; Russell, 1990). Marital rape is marked as one of the most widespread ways of violation against women with most studies indicating that victims are legally married couples, those separated, divorced or living together. The basic concept is that the different forms of sexual violence between couples who have lived together for long and those that are married remains the same (Mahoney & Williams, 1998). In as much as no publications of marital rape between gay and lesbian couples have been found, am emergence of such literature is slowly coming up (Bergen & Barnhill, 2006).
The extent of marital rape was brought to light by Diana Russell's research that was done in 1990 in San Francisco. The study interviewed a total of 930 women selected randomly from a well representative community. Rape by intimates was indicated as the most common with an estimation of 10 to 14% of women being married (Finkelhor & Yllo, 1985; Russell, 1990). A different study of Canadian women done by Randall and Haskell (1995) indicted that 30% were sexually violated in their adulthood and by their intimate partners.
In the U.S., more than 7 million women have been victims of marital rape based on the results of study of violence against women to the recent time (Mahoney, Williams & Weast, 2001; Tjaden & Thoennes, 1998). The number of women who continue to become victims of marital rape may be on the rise in the recent time compared to the past reason being that most of them have been victims of physical abuse and for this same reason they are susceptible to become victims of rape (Campbell, 1989; Pence & Paymar, 1993). If the number of women who have been emotionally forced to consent to sex is included then the widespread is even more. Basile (2002) found that marital responsibility forced an estimated number of 34% of women to unwillingly consent to sex.
The reality of marital rape was brought to be in the 1970's but regardless of its widespread, social scientists, practitioners, the criminal justice system, and the whole society has not been able to shed light to this form of violence against women as required (Bergen, 2005). In the present time, some participants still doubt the possibility of raping one's own wife with evidence pointing out that majority rating marital rape as an inferior crime in comparison to other societal forms of rape (Whatley, 2005; Kirkwood & Cecil, 2001). Done among college students, an attitude study indicated that the perception of marital rape scored less in terms seriousness compared to when done by a complete stranger. Only half the population confirmed that a husband is capable of raping his wife (Bergen & Barnhill, 2006).
The content of this paper provides the current knowledge of marital rape in summary. A brief discussion is done on the historical background of marital rape, how marital rape occurs, the effects that are brought about by marital rape and finally how practitioners intervene with survivors in cases of marital rape.
History of marital rape in relation to law
The rise and development of marital rape has been brought to existence by the law society. In ancient past, rape was defined as a sexual intercourse by a male with a female who is not his wife and has done so without her approval (Barshis, 1983). Having sex with their wives without mutual consent was a privilege that most men enjoyed but this definition of rape on the contrary would mean that men would not face any criminal charges or prosecution if they raped their wives- a concept that brought the meaning of "license to rape" (Finkelhor and Yllo, 1985).
As long as a woman is married, they hold the responsibility of submitting to having sex with their husbands, a notion that came into being by the words of England's Chief Justice in the 17th century when he wrote that the husband cannot be held accountable for a rape carried out by him on his legally wedded wife. This is because of their mutual matrimonial agreement, as well as, her responsibilities, which the wife has surrendered to her husband; responsibilities she cannot retract from (quoted in Russell, 1990, p. 17). For a long time this concept of excluding men from the wrath of justice was not opposed until the 1970s. The inability to give equal protection from rape to the entire female population was an argument that...
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