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Gisselle Pasillas

Vargas

Education 1302

5 May 2017

Marital Rape

Studies have shown that ten to fourteen percent of women have experienced

forced sex from their husbands. Rape is unlawful sexual activity and usually

sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the

will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or

incapable of valid. Marital rape is forcing your spouse into sexual intercourse

without their consent. Marital rape is a serious problem in today's society

that needs to be looked at. Rape is rape and all rapes should be punished

and taken serious, including marital rape. Shouldnt marital rape be punished

and taken as serious as any other.

According to the National clearinghouse on marital and date rape as of

March 1996, only seventeen states and the District of Columbia have

completely abolished the marital rape exemption. Marital privileges are

extended to unmarried cohabitants in some states. In research with wife rape

victims, most reported being raped more than once, with at least one third of

women reporting being raped more than 20 times over the course of their

relationship. Women who experience wife rape suffer a long recovery of

physical and psychological injuries as severe or more severe than stranger

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rape victims. It messes that person mentally and physically even more or

just as equal because someone you trust and know very well just abused

you. When its a stranger you never have to see them again but when its

your spouse, you see them every day.

In an article from the New York Times it starts off with questioning what

the difference between marital rape and other rape victims is. The article

includes quotes such as Its the difference between living with the

frightening memory of having been raped, which is bad enough, and actually

living with the rapist said Dr. Kersti Yllo, assistant professor of sociology at

Wheaton College. It gives us real examples of cases of marital rape in the

United States, like in Massachusetts, Oregon, and California. There is facts

based on cases where the state want to change the laws regarding forced

sex in marriage. Throughout the article they continue to give us their

opinions and real logical facts on the topic. They used a study and

interviewed 50 victims of marital rape. It gives us research and percentages.

In 1980, there was a study that showed that in random sample 930 women

18 years and older, rape by a husband was reported more than twice as

often as rape by a stranger. Twelve percent of the 644 married women in the

sample reported rape by a husband. Dr.Yllo gives us his own opinions and

what victims of this can do but Dr, Yllo also quotes about real cases and

studies that show the reality of this situation.

For most of human history, however, the marriage contract has meant

the wife has consented to sex and thus sexual relations at any time are an
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entitlement by the husband. This is an extension of the idea that wives are

the property of their husbands, as Diana Russell wrote in her 1990 landmark

book Rape in Marriage. In this article Yes, Marital Rape Happens, and is it

Terrible it provided us with a real-life example how even Trump has

committed this crime himself. How people believe its alright to force your

spouse just because they signed a paper of marriage.

In the Healthy Place, it discusses the different types of marital rape

such as battering rape, force-only rape, and obsessive/ sadistic rape. It lets

readers know that there is more than one way for marital rape to happen

within your marriage and the reactions that these victims go through. People

suffer from emotional and physical reactions to this social issue. Its great to

have a website to let us know what victims can do if theyre in this situation

and how to identify it.

In an editorial Why marital rape must be a crime shows that this isnt

just in issue in the United States but other places too and how religion can

get in the way of it as well. The concept of marital rape as understood internationally

cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context due to various factors like level of

education/illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and values, religious beliefs [and the]

mindset of the society to treat the marriage as a sacrament. Says thehindu.com.

Why is there people out there that believe its okay just because you're

married? If the person gets affected by it just as much or maybe more as

they would if it was a stranger, then why shouldnt it be charged and taken

as serious as stranger rape? We all need to stand up together to make a

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change and show to everyone that all rapes matter. Nobody should have to

go through the pain and the recovery from being raped. No matter the

situation its a crime and we all need to see it. Being married is not an

exception nor does it make it okay. We need to let those people know that

theres help out there. Marital rape is still considered rape and needs to be

charged just as equally as any other rape.

Thistlethwaite, R. D. (2015, July 28). Yes, Marital Rape Happens, and it is Terrible.

Retrieved May 05, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-dr-susan-brooks-

thistlethwaite/yes-marital-rape-happens_b_7891192.html

"MARITAL RAPE PSA." YouTube. YouTube, 28 Apr. 2014. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.

"NEW LAWS RECOGNIZING MARITAL RAPE AS A CRIME." The New York Times.

The New York Times, 28 Dec. 1984. Web. 02 Apr. 2017.

Tracy, N. (n.d.). Marital Rape, Spousal Rape - Rape - Abuse. Retrieved May 05, 2017,

from https://www.healthyplace.com/abuse/rape/marital-rape-spousal-rape/
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Why marital rape must be a crime. (2016, September 06). Retrieved May 05, 2017, from

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/criminalising-marital-rape-and-maneka-

gandhi/article8352904.ece

Sachdev, C. (2016, April 13). Rape Is A Crime In India - But There Are Exceptions.

Retrieved May 05, 2017, from

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/04/13/473966857/rape-is-a-crime-in-

india-with-one-exception

Marital Rape. (n.d.). Retrieved May 05, 2017, from

http://www.hiddenhurt.co.uk/marital_rape.html

Spousal Rape Was First Acknowledged as a Crime in This 1979 Case. (n.d.). Retrieved

May 05, 2017, from http://time.com/3975175/spousal-rape-case-history/

Marital rape | Latest News on Marital rape | Breaking Stories and Opinion Articles. (n.d.).

Retrieved May 05, 2017, from http://www.firstpost.com/tag/marital-rape

Marital Rape: My Husband Raped Me. (n.d.). Retrieved May 05, 2017, from

http://time.com/3976180/marital-rape/
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