Marital Rape: An Overview

Abstract

Though marital rape is the most common and repugnant form of masochism in Indian society, it is hidden behind the iron curtain of marriage. Social practices and legal codes in India mutually enforce the denial of women sexual agency and bodily integrity, which lie at the heart of women human rights. Rape is rape. Be it stranger rape, date rape or marital rape. The law does not treat marital rape as a crime. Even if it does, the issue of penalty remains lost in a cloud of legal uncertainty. The legal system must be forced to accept rape within marriage as a crime. Further, women themselves must break free of societal shackles and fight for justice. They must refuse to comply with the standards applied to them as the weaker sex. Rape is an offence, which hinges on the absence of consent of the woman. It is important to realise that the absence of consent does not have to be only in the form of the word ‘no’. It should be assumed from the context of the situation. The offence of marital rape has not been sufficiently accounted for in the law.