Can a husband rape his wife? I find myself amazed by the number of people who believe that they can’t. It seems, the common mindset is that when a man and woman marry, the woman somehow become the man’s property, for him to do with what he wants, whenever he wants, regardless of her feelings. Well, I disagree completely and feel it is my duty as a past victim of spousal rape, to set the record straight that rape is rape, regardless of marital status just as murder is murder regardless of marital or relationship status. I will define the legal definition of spousal/marital rape, briefly discuss the history, point out the differences in requirements and punishments for rape vs. spousal rape, and finally describe the effects spousal rape has on its victims.
While the legal definition varies by state, spousal rape can be defined as any unwanted intercourse or penetration obtained by force, threat of force, or when the wife is unable to consent (crisisconnection.org). Shockingly, though, many states don’t recognize the last part of that definition in their laws. Some states only consider it spousal rape if force, threat of force, use of a deadly weapon, or bodily injury occurred during the offense. If this criterion isn’t met, the act is not considered a crime; it is considered the husbands contractual right per the marriage agreement.
Until the late 1970’s, most states didn’t consider spousal rape a crime at all. Typically, spouses were exempted from the sexual assault laws (ncvc.org). The traditional definition of rape most commonly used in the United States up until this point was, ‘sexual intercourse with a female who is not his wife without her consent’ (Barshis, 1983, p. 383). Sadly, this thinking remained mostly ...
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...ious attention along with equal and severe punishment to help stop the cycle of abuse that has been allowed to go on for so long.
Works Cited
Barshis, V. (1983). The Question of Marital Rape. Women’s Studies International Forum, 383-393. Print.
Bergen, R.K. (1996). Wife Rape: Understanding the response of survivors and service providers. Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage. Print.
http://www.crisisconnectioninc.org/pdf/US_History_of_Marital_Rape.pdf
Crisis Connection. U.S. History of Marital Rape. n.d. Web. February 10, 2012.
http://www.ncvc.org/ncvc/main.aspx?dbName=DocumentViewer&DocumentID=32701
The National Center for Victims of Crime. Victim Policy Pipeline (winter 1999/2000 Issue). Web. February 10, 2012.
Whatley, M. (1993). For Better or Worse: The Case of Marital Rape. Violence and Victims, 8, 29-39 Print.
Three rapes were reported in the 1983 in the state of Massachusetts. The first rape was reported on August 17, 1983 a women by the name of Marilyn Goss. She was raped by an intruder while she spent the night at the Casa Manor Motel in Ayer, Massachusetts (Stearns, 2006). On November 16, 1983 a woman was attacked while she was walking home in the city Lowell, MA. A man she did not know approached her, tried to converse with her, and then forced her into a nearby yard, where the man sexually assaulted her (Know the Cases: Dennis Maher). On November 17, 1983, about twenty four hours after the other attack in Lowell, MA, a different woman was harshly shoved to the ground by a man who produced a knife. The woman was luckily enough to escape the man after a struggle...
Rape is a virus that infects every nation, culture and society. It is constantly referred to as “the unfinished murder”, because of the deep state of despair the rapist leaves the victim in. There is no common identifiable trend that determines who will be a rape victim. Women are not assaulted because of their attitudes or actions, they are attacked simply because they are present. With rapists, just as with their victims, there is no identifiable trend. The old myth that only “sick, dirty, old, perverted men” commit rapes is a lie that society tells itself in order to sleep better at night. The startling truth is that most rapists work under a veil of normalcy. In order for the percentage of rapes to decrease, we have to change our ideas about rape and let go of the old myths of the past. And until this happens, rape will continue to plague our world at large.
Kelly, Liz (1987) “The Continuum of Sexual Violence.” In: Women, Violence and Social Control, edited by J. Hanmer and M. Maynard. Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press International: 46-60.
This program will focus on D.A.R.T, a Domestic Violence Counseling Program, who specializes in spousal rape. Victims of marital rape may find themselves left helpless and unaware of their options to escape the current abusive situation, much less finding anyone who understands their situation. Among many other fears, victims may believe they do not have a justifiable case against their spouse. Here we will discuss what programs are currently available, spousal predators, and what programs should be available.
Searles, Patricia and Berger, Ronald. Rape and Society: reading on problem of sexual assault. Westview Press, 1995
Rape is non-consensual sexual intercourse that a male performs against a woman whom he is neither married to or cohabiting with. The definition of rape changes by geographic location. In some countries a woman must prove she is pure in order to find the perpetrator guilty. Rape used to be more of a violation to the man than to the women. It was a violation of the man’s rights if his wife or girlfriend was raped. When a woman is raped her devotion to her family is questioned. Rape is a violent act, an act of possession, not a sexual act. The myth that men who rape women are sexually pathological has begun to be dispelled and replaced with an understanding that rape is an act of anger, power and control rather than lust.
Notman, M. T., & Nadelson, C. C. (1976). The Rape victim: psychodynamic considerations. American Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 408-413 .
Wyatt, Gail . "Sociocultural Context of African American and White American Women's Rape." Welcome to the Medical University of South Carolina. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2011. .
Rape was considered a crime at the time, but Common law made it impossible for man to be persecuted for abusing or raping his property. The unities theory also was a cause to making it impossible to prosecute, this theory made it ineligible for domestic violence victims to file for suits for physical damage. Through the years Acts and laws have been passed to help women gain equality, protection, and rights but no immediate change affected the legality of marital rape. Until the 1970’s in the United States, member of acts and movements fought to criminalize marital rape. On July 5, 1993, marital rape became a crime in all 50 states in at least one section of the sexual offense codes. Like the domino effect, the laws begin to gain national attention across the world and countries begin to consider
Bonnie, S. F., Francis, T. C., & Michael, G. T. (2000) The sexual victimization of college women. U.S. Department of Justice.
It is not a topic that is brought up often, especially at schools or at gatherings, yet it is crucial that everyone be educated, or at least informed on a topic that affects women every day. “Given that sexual violence continues to occur at high rates in the United States, it is vital that we understand attitudes and cultural norms that serve to minimize or foster tolerance of sexual violence” (Aosved, 481). Growing rates of sexual violence goes to prove that it is not taken seriously by many, especially when myths excuse the actions of the perpetrator and instead guilt victims into thinking they are responsible for the horrible act. Burt (1980), in her article titled, “Cultural myths and support for rape” attempts to make sense of the importance of stereotypes and myths, defined as prejudicial, stereotypes, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims and rapists- in creating a climate hostile to rape victims (Burt, 217). Examples of rape myths are such sayings as “only bad girls get raped”; “women ask for it”; “women cry rape” (Burt, 217). This only goes to prove that rape myths against women always blame and make it seem like it is the women’s fault she was raped and that she deserved it for “acting” a certain way. McMahon (2007), in her article titled, “Understanding community-specific rape myths” explains how Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1994) later described rape myths as “attitudes and beliefs that are generally
In “Sex and Violence: A Perspective,” MacKinnon turns her focus to the common definition of rape as a form of violence. The categorizations of rape, sexual harassment, and pornography as forms of violence are problematic in themselves because they do not capture the reality of sex. In fact, much of intercourse is about violence (MacKinnon p. 268), in the way that power and dominance are extremely eroticized, thus to say “rape is violence” is a misnomer. MacKinnon brings one’s attention to the construction of rape, which separates rape from intercourse based on the amount of force applied (p. 268). This definition is especially legitimate in the legal system, which derives solely from a male point of view: it is called rape when there is penetratio...
La Valle, John. "Everything You Need to Know When You Are the Male Survivor of Rape or Sexual Assault" New York, NY 1996.
Webster’s Dictionary describes rape as the crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse. Rape is a crime in which most women cannot defend themselves. The fear of rape plagues every woman at some point or another in her life. The traumatic effects of rape vary from mild to severe, from psychological to physical. This paper will evaluate rape, as well as the effects it has on women, the theory behind male dominance and patriarchy, and differences in demographics.
The society we live in is rape-conducive, rape-friendly, if you will. Despite the anger I feel joining those two words together, I know the sad paradox holds within it a great deal of truth. We are a violent society that has shrouded rape in mystery and shame. To stop this nightmare’s venomous crusades, all people must wage a private war to eradicate their own acceptance of the savage crime. While it is only a minority of men that actually commit rape, it is everyone’s silence that tells them it’s ok.