“He pushes me on to the bed and jumps on me as if making love to him wasn’t an option but an obligation”

Simar Singh ( The legal Rapist)

What is Rape, really? Any sexual act done without the consent of any of the two parties. The word Rape carries with it a powerful negative punch.

The question that is most often raised is ‘What is Marital rape?’, ‘How can a husband rape his wife?’, ‘How such action can be defined as Rape if the couple is married?’. To explain it in simple way, Marital rape or Spousal rape means having Sex with your partner without their consent. But Rape is Rape, within any consent, so why is marraige a license to do it? Why is “she’s my wife” a defense? The answer lies in the patriarchal roots of Indian society. It sees women as economic religious and sexual property. For society, marraige is about ownership.

Marital rape involves Violence and lack of consent. It is very important to teach the meaning and importance of consent to people and when the consent is disregarded by the members of family it leads to the crimes of domestic and social violence.

Role of Judiciary :-

There are various countries that have criminalized marital rape but there are countries where it is not even considered as a crime. India is one of the 36 countries that haven’t criminalized marital rape. According to report 66% of married women in India experience physical and sexual violence by their partners and only 10% of the married victims of the sexual violence seek help.

Indian Constitution – ‘Section 375 of IPC treats marital rape as a crime only if the wife is below 15 years of age’

When a person in India, where marital rape is not a crime, does not consider it important to seek the consent of their spouse for sex, Does it make marraige a contract of sex? Indian law gives the men to have defense for the evil practice under the name of marraige.

If marital rape is criminalized in India, it would be a great step towards empowering the women of the country. There might be people who don’t support marital rape publicly due to fear of reputation, hatred or public image but they don’t publicaly oppose it either. It is lack of knowledge which makes people ignore the concept of consent.

Conclusion :-

Yes, marraige may be an important ceremony for many people but does that mean one must silently tolerate violence within the framework of relationship?

First, we need to make the people understand that Marital rape is a problem; a serious problem which is harmful for the citizens of the country. Women deserved to be treated equally, they deserve respect, trust, love and care from her partner. Marital rape breaks the trust and confidence in the whole idea of marraige. The society has to be educated and by Criminalizing the evil practice of Marital rape, the law will ensure that married women will not be subjected to violence or sexual assault.

‘Marital rape, He wants, “He do” She doesn’t want, but “She have to do”

Written by Fatema Bhaisaheb. Do share your Reviews.