Need For Criminalisation Of Marital Rape

Madhusneha Barman & Tanya Sharma, Manipal University Jaipur

Introduction

When we think of rape and sexual violence, occurring under normal circumstances, we would refer these crimes as heinous. But there is this other form of crime which is not even considered as a crime but a family matter. This crime is Marital Rape. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in 2019, about 70% of women in India are victims of domestic violence, and one such manifestation of domestic violence is Marital Rape.

The act of Marital rape involves forcing the spouse to get into sexual intercourse with having proper consent. Marital rape has been impeached in more than 100 countries. 36 countries in the world have not criminalized marital rape yet and India is one of them. This is one aspect that say why the women of the country are not safe. While many marital rape cases get documented in hospitals, but very rare cases like this actually gets registered. There are many NGO’s that have founded cases of sexual violence from the emergency room of hospitals. When cases like these are reported in the police station, it is considered to be a matter between husband and wife. An analysis of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2015-16 data indicates that an estimated 99.1 % sexual violence cases go unreported.

Needless to say there has been recent amendments in the criminal law, out of which various laws meant to protect women from domestic violence and sexual assault have largely remained ineffective. It is high time that marital rape gets criminalized so that the culprits are not safeguarded and the victims are not endangered.