Feminist Explanation Of Marital Rape

According to Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary, rape is 'forcing somebody to have sex with you when they do not want to, by threatening them or using violence' (Oxford University Press, 2005). By extension of logic, Marital Rape can be defined as sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, obtained by force, threat of force, or physical violence, or when she is unable to give consent. It is a non-consensual act of sexual violence by a husband against the wife, where other forms of physical or mental abuses are also involved most of the times. As per the approximations made by the UN Population Fund, more than 2/3rds of married women in India, aged between 15 and 49 have been beaten, raped or forced to provide sex. In the present day, studies indicate that between 10 and 14% of married women are raped by their husbands; half of the battered women coming for treatment report marital rape. In fact, marital rape accounts for approximately 25% of all the cases of rapes committed.

It has been strongly established by many feminist thinkers that rape is not as much about sex as much as it is about power. The rape culture is a conscious process of intimidation and assertion of the superiority of men over women. Also, commonly, it is considered that husbands are entitled to sex and

It was synonymous with abduction and since a woman was considered the property of the men who were her guardians, a woman’s abduction or sexual molestation, was merely the theft of a woman against the consent of her guardian or anyone who held legal power over her. Therefore, the act of molestation of a woman, obviously and sadly, was treated as a wrong against her father or husband and not against the woman. Not surprisingly, thus, married women were never the subject of rape laws. Laws provided absolute ownership to the husband of his wife, solely on the basis of the marital