Marital Rape

Marital Rape

News: Recently, the Delhi High Court delivered a split verdict in a batch of petitions challenging the exception provided to marital rape in the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

About:
• Marital rape is the act of sexual intercourse with one’s spouse without her consent.
• It is no different manifestation of domestic violence and sexual abuse.
• It is often a chronic form of violence for the victim which takes place within abusive relations.

Outcome of Split Verdict: Preserving the institution of marriage
The Centre’s concern that criminalising marital rape may destabilise the institution of marriage is a “legitimate” one, said the HC.
• In a marriage, conjugal expectation is a two-way street, where “consent is given as a part of spousal intimacy although the will to engage may be absent”.
• If every such case is treated as marital rape, then the only way partners in a marriage may survive would be by drawing up a detailed written agreement.
• It would lead to creating a detailed evidentiary record of every act of intimacy and/or by inviting a third party to act as a witness.
• The Bench highlighted the signs of injury on a partner need not necessarily mean there had been nonconsensual sex as ‘’ in the age of sexual liberation’’, injuries could be a sign of ‘’passion’’
• Forced sexual intercourse between a husband and wife cannot be treated as rape. At worst, it can be treated as sexual abuse found in Section 3 of the Domestic Violence Act.

Remedy:
• Section 3 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 provides a definition for domestic violence, which includes physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse.

Why Marital Rape must be a crime?
• A research says that marital rape can be more emotionally and physically damaging than rape by a stranger
• Rape by a spouse, partner or ex-partner is more often associated with physical violence
• It kind of becomes an obligation on the women to continue living with their spouse in case of Marital rape
• Marital rape is considered as the violation of FR guaranteed under Article 14 of the Indian constitution which guarantees the equal protection of laws to all persons.
• By depriving married women of an effective penal remedy against forced sexual intercourse, it violates their right to privacy and bodily integrity, aspects of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21.

How is Marital Rape treated around the world?
• According to Amnesty International data, 77 out of 185 (42%) countries criminalise marital rape through legislation. It includes nations like Australia, Canada and South Africa.
• Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lesotho, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Tanzania expressly allow marital rape of a woman or a girl by her husband.

Way Forward:
• Indian law now affords husbands and wives separate and independent legal identities, and much jurisprudence in the modern era is explicitly concerned with the protection of women.
• Therefore, it is high time that the legislature should take cognisance of this legal infirmity and bring marital rape within the purview of rape laws by eliminating Section 375 (Exception 2) of IPC.