Marital Rape: Legal Status and Development
| Author | Kalyani Abhyankar,Anushka Datta |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/25166069221117191 |
| Published date | 01 April 2022 |
| Date | 01 April 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Original Articles |
Marital Rape: Legal
Status and Development
Kalyani Abhyankar1 and Anushka Datta2
Abstract
Marriage is a pillar of humanity and plays a crucial role in the development of both
women and men in society. There are various national and international legisla-
tions, which aim at protecting women; however, in a marital relationship, rape is
yet not considered as a serious offence. Marital rape is one such concept, which
is difficult to understand and comprehend by society in general. However, recent
media coverage on few petitions entertained by honourable courts have raised
many questions on this subject, which has further led to lengthy and detailed
discussion on forms of marital rape, the actions which constitute marital rape,
significance of consent in marital rape, whether marital rape needs to be crimi-
nalized in modern society and international legislative measures related to mari-
tal rape. Victims of marital rape suffer depression, mental distress, gynaecological
problems and other severe health issues, which directly impact their lives in a
negative manner. This article attempts to uncover the issue of marital rape faced
by women in their daily lives by throwing light on women’s rights and find some
solutions to the problems, by relying on descriptive and comparative studies.
Keywords
Justice, victim protection, law and legal, marriage and family
Introduction
Rape is a sexual assault on a woman without her consent. The sexual act is
forced upon a woman either through abuse, force or intoxicating the woman. Now,
when one hears about the rape, one generally imagines the act carried out by an
unknown person or a known person who does not share a conjugal relationship with
the woman. However, in the past few decades, there has been rising interest in debate
with respect to a marital rape, where a man is accused of raping his own wife. The
meaning of marital rape means when a man feels he has a right to have an
Original Article
Journal of Victimology
and Victim Justice
5(1) 71–79, 2022
2022 Rajiv Gandhi National
University of Law
Reprints and permissions:
in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india
DOI: 10.1177/25166069221117191
journals.sagepub.com/home/vvj
1 School of Law, Christ (Deemed to be) University, Lavasa, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
2 School of Law, Christ (Deemed to be) University, New Delhi, Delhi NCR, Ghaziabad, Uttar
Pradesh, India.
Corresponding author:
Kalyani Abhyankar, Assistant Professor of Law, School of Law, School of Law, Christ (Deemed to be)
University, Lavasa, Pune, Maharashtra 412112, India.
E-mail: Kalyani.abhyankar@christuniversity.in
To continue reading
Request your trial