Marital Rape

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Marital Rape Marriage rape is the most neglect form of abuse against women. It has been stated that martial is motivated by laws, the reporting, and gender inequality. History: Marital rape and the foundation of exemption have dated back to the 1700’s, where the first documented legal statement of marital rape occurred in 1736. Sir Matthew Hale, who at the time was the chief justice of England, published a statement stating that a husband cannot be persecuted for raping his wife. "But the husband cannot be guilty of a rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto the husband which she cannot retract"" (quoted in Russell, 1990, p. 17). This …show more content…

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 …show more content…

Lawmakers and the criminal justice system overlook marital rape, Das (2010) states those survivors’ experiences of being told that their victimization is “not a real rape” and encountering victim-blaming attitudes may lead to less filing of complaints and reporting to police. Women have reported experiencing harsh and insensitive treatment from the criminal justice system when trying to report abuse or marital rape. Social stigmatization, cultural traditions, and gender bias are structural hurdles that discourage women from reporting acts of sexual violence, especially experiences of marital rape (Prasad,

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