“Marriage Is No Excuse To Satisfy Your Lust”.
INTRODUCTION: Any undesired sexual acts undertaken by a spouse or ex-spouse without the consent of the other person; such illegal sexual activities are carried out with the use of force, threat of force, intimidation, or when a person is unable to consent. Intercourse, anal or oral sex, forced sexual behavior with other people, and other sexual practices that the victim finds disgusting, humiliating, painful, and unwelcome are all examples of sexual actions. Spousal rape is another name for it.
Marital rape or spousal rape is sexual intercourse with one’s spouse without the spouse’s consent. The lack of consent in such acts makes it an essential element. Marital rape is a type of domestic violence and sexual assault that occurs while two people are married. Although sexual intercourse within marriage was once considered a right of spouses, many countries around the world now consider it rape, which is condemned by international conventions and increasingly criminalised.
LEGAL ASPECT: All forms of sexual assault involving nonconsensual intercourse with a woman are included in the definition of rape codified in Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (“IPC”). However the Exception 2 to Section 375 only acknowledges marital rape with girls below fifteen years of age; the exception reads ‘Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife being above fifteen years of age, is not rape.’
While practically every country in the world recognises unwanted sexual contact between a husband and a wife as a crime, India is one of the thirty-six countries that has yet to prosecute marital rape. There are no laws in India relating to marital rape, and the panel is requesting that laws be enacted to put it under criminal jurisdiction.
STATISTICS:
> Around 30% of total rape cases where the perpetrator was either a husband, boyfriend, or partner.
> 43% of women who engaged in sex even when they did not want to, out of a sense of ‘duty’.
> 60% of women who’s spouse has committed marital rape more than once.
> 70% increase by the prediction that rape will occur in a relationship where Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is present.
” NO ALWAYS MEANS NO.”
PHYSICAL & PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE: Rape by partner or ex-partner is mostly associated with violence, leading to psychological trauma which include anxiety, shock, intense fear, depression, suicidal ideation, and PTSD. Most women keep it all within themselves and be grinding from the inside.
MARITAL RAPE AS A VIOLATION OF FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN: Article 14 of the Indian Constitution ensures ‘the State shall not deny to any person equality before law or equal protection of laws within the territory of India.’ Indian criminal law discriminates against female victims who have been raped by their own husbands, even though the Constitution guarantees equality to all.
During the drafting of the Indian Penal Code in the 1860s, women were not considered as independent legal entities, rather they were thought to be their husband’s chattel. As a result, theylacked many of the rights that come with being independent legal entities, such as the ability to bring a lawsuit against someone else under their own names.
Exception 2 of Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code violates Article 14 too by discriminating against married women by denyine them protection against being raped by their own husbands.
Exception 2 also violates Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Article 21 states that “no person shall be denied of his life and personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law.” in many judgments the Supreme Courts has held the literal meaning of the rights under this section as rights to health, privacy, dignity, safe living conditions, and safe environment, among others. Whereas in this case it means that the woman has the right to personal liberty- consensual intercourse, which is but obviously snatched from her.
CONCLUSION: Husbands and wives now have separate and independent legal identities under Indian law, and much current jurisprudence is particularly focused with women’s protection.
As a result, it is past time for the legislature to recognise this legal flaw and eliminate Section 375 (Exception 2) of the IPC, bringing marital rape under the jurisdiction of rape legislation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
https://harvardhrj.com/2019/01/marital-rape-a-non-criminalized-crime-in-india/
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