Marital Rape

Legal provisions:

Criminalization of Marital Rape is necessary because:

Non-consensual sex – violating right to dignity.
Marriage is an equal-relationship contract, but not one time consent to all.
Men gets unequal privilege.
Psychological Scars
Exception under Section 375, violates Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of a woman.
The patriarchal nature of Indian society.
Physical abuse and mental trauma of her dignity being violated
Forceful marriages.
The Justice Verma committee had recommended removing the exception made for marital rape in the law.
The report ‘Status of Women in India’, by the high-level Pam Rajput committee of the Ministry of Woman and Child Development, criticized the legislature for its failure to criminalize marital rape
Till date, 51 countries have criminalized marital rape, beginning with Poland in 1932.

No Criminalization of marital rape because:

Destabilize the institution of Marriage.
Tool to harass husbands. For example, Sec 498A of IPC misused.
Law Commission on Review of Rape Laws has examined the issue but not recommended the criminalization of marital rape.

Way forward:

Defining marital rape – broad based consensus of the society.
Criminal law is on the concurrent list and implemented by states.
Vast diversity in cultures across states.
Factors like literacy, lack of financial empowerment of the majority of females, mindset of the society, vast diversity, poverty, etc., should be considered carefully before taking any decision.
“Moral and social awareness” to stop such an act.
Privacy judgment by the Supreme Court – right to bodily integrity is a crucial facet of Article 21.
Timely medical care and rehabilitation, skill development and employment for facilitating economic independence of victims.
Need for undertaking both legal and social reforms to deal with the menace of marital rape

Conclusion:

A woman has a right to bodily integrity, sexual autonomy and reproductive choice.
Only when individual rights are not sacrificed and two partners are treated equally shall marriage as an institution continue to survive.

In the light of Sakshi v. Union of India and Others [2004] –

Sexual assault on any part of the body should be construed as rape.
Rape laws should be made gender neutral as custodial rape of young boys has been neglected by law.
Forced sexual intercourse by a husband with his wife should be treated equally as an offence just as any physical violence by a husband against the wife is treated as an offence. On the same reasoning, section 376 A was to be deleted.