Criminalization Of Marital Rape

Fida Amina, BA.LL.B., Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad

INTRODUCTION

India has always had a patriarchal society. Moreover, from time immemorial, women in India had to face various social evils, for example, sati, child marriage, devadasi and purdah system, etc. With time, many of these evils were declared illegal and had disappeared because of that. However, few of them remain and haunt women in India. Marital rape is one of those social evils that have prevailed since ancient India and remains in the present generation1. Marital rape is defined as the act where the spouse is forced to have sex without their proper consent.2 Since ancient times women did not have equal status as their male partners. They were usually considered their father’s property, and after marriage, they were considered their husband’s chattel. At that time, women were made to believe that their only role was to ensure heirs so that the family line continued. Hence all women were made to believe that they must always be available to their husband sexually and should never refuse their husband’s wish.3 This wrong thinking gave rise to a social evil like marital rape. There were no effective laws in India to protect women; women had few rights, and those few they did have were unknown to them.

Furthermore, women were entirely reliant on their husbands and had no choice but to adhere to their husbands' wishes, whether they were correct or not. These factors helped make marital rape a big business in India. As a result, the evil of marital rape has a long history in India.