Sexual Crimes Against The Conundrum Of Marital Rape

When asked to define the word rape, a number of responses may be given depending upon what country or state one lives in and if one is a male or female. According to Pandora’s Project.org, rape is defined as any sexual contact or penetration attained without consent; with physical force, intimidation, threat, trickery, or when the victim is mentally capacitated, physically or mentally impaired, asleep or unconscious; this includes due to voluntary or involuntary alcohol or drug consumption.

Rape is a despicable crime that some can’t be forgiven or forgotten. Rape is an act of sexual violence towards another human being without their consents. It’s not only if you have their consent, they also have to be old enough. Rape will give you the consequences of going to jail. Doing so will affect the person that has committed it and the person that has been violated.

Rape is a very big word. Now a days the word “rape” is thrown around way too lightly now a days. When you think of rape what

There is a misperception that one cannot be charged for a sexual crime against their spouse. That is not true. In almost every state, the sexual assault laws have been extended to cover spousal sexual abuse. It can no longer be accepted at face-value that the sex act between married couples did not involve sexual abuse. If the spouse refused to participate in the sex act and was forced to have sex under a threat, or fear of bodily harm, this will be considered sexual abuse and if reported, the perpetrator can be charged.

The term rape is defined as an ‘unlawful sexual intercourse by force, and without legal or factual consent’ by Gennaro Vito, Jeffrey Maahs and Ronald Holmes (2006) in ‘Criminology: Theory, Research and Policy’ (Vito, Maahs, and Holmes, 2006: p. 280). Rape can be in the form of the penis penetrating the vagina, oral, anal and an assault using a foreign object. However, there have been many controversies of what is rape and the use of force that is required. Several researchers, practitioners, legal jurisdiction, as well as, a few rape statutes involving coercive rape rely on the use of force as part of evidence in their definition (Vito, Maahs, and Holmes, 2006: p. 280). Rape can occur both in men and women, however, most accounts of rape indicate that majority of men are perpetrators and women are the victims. This essay will discuss the gender differences of rape victims and the connection of feminist criminology and labelling theory, and stigmatisation; as followed with case studies that are relevant with both theories.

The first evidence of legislature related to the overall topic of marital rape excused it in the 17th century. As declared by Lord Matthew Hale and adopted by the United States, “‘the husband cannot be guilty of a rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto her husband, which she cannot retract’” (“To Have and to Hold” 1255-1256). As the most government action toward the justice of marital rape victims occurred in the late 1900s, this continued to be the situation until then.

Rape has been an ongoing issue within society for centuries. In early times, men raped women for reproductive purposes. Today, it is still believed

Today marital rape is considered a crime, whereas in history, it was acceptable for the husband to have nonconsensual sex with his wife. Wives were once known to be their husbands’ possession, giving the husband ownership of her body which in turn gives him the right to have sex with them without her permission. The law back in history once said, a man cannot rape his wife, because when they get married, the marriage gives the husband consent to sexual intercourse. It was said rape only happens by an acquaintance or a stranger outside the marriage.

Marital rape, a rape in which the perpetrator is the victim’s spouse, is an underestimated, underreported reality that effects 10-14% of all women in the U.S (Basile, 2011). Although the U.S. government has made strides in sexual violence laws in the past few years, marital rape policies still have a long way to go. The instance of marital rape should be combatted by the U.S. Federal Government with a multifaceted plan. First, the U.S. federal government should offer states incentive to develop laws where no distinction is made between marital rape and non-marital rape in terms of elements of the crime, statute of limitations, and length of the sentence. Second, the Federal Government should ratify the Declaration to Eliminate Violence Against Women. Third, the federal government should completely eliminate all funds for private abstinence only education. Fourth, the federal government should offer additional incentives to states who have rape education programs in their public high schools.

The nation marital rape consent is contrary to the consent that is interpreted and applied areas of law. The law does not allow a person to consent to serious bodily injury inflicted by another. The law only gives implied consent to injuries arising out of situation involving a potential harm, if for instance a particular situation was voluntarily entered the laws does not imply consent to the malicious infliction of serious injury. A woman for example gives consent when she agrees to the act of rape comes in when it is violent desecration of the victims person and impute consent on the part of the victim exceeds the bounds of law of consent.

Rape is defined as a sexual assault that involves some form of sexual intercourse that is done without consent. The legal elements of rape include sexual intercourse, absence of consent, and the mental element of the accused. It is sometimes difficult to prove consent of intercourse. Consent must be freely given and can be withdrawn at anytime. Age also plays a key aspect in rape, because the law considers younger individuals under a certain age not capable of giving consent. The mental state of mind of the accused has to be proven that the accused knew lack of consent and failed to stop when asked. There are cases where a victim does not say no, but it is clear they did not give

According to writer and domestic violence expert Jeff Temple of Galveston Daily News, “marital rape (or spousal/intimate partner rape) is when intercourse is obtained with force, threat of force or without partner consent

Taking a look at the United States, the rape law here consisted of five elements that must be met before it was considered rape in a court of law. “The act had to be criminal, involve carnal knowledge, victimize a woman, and be committed using force, and the force has to be against the will of the victim” (Richards & Marcum, 2015, p. 17). The United States’ law had many restrictions that did not consider rape against spouses. This common law definition of rape was used until the mid-1900’s. It was not until 1962 when the Model Penal Code established a broader definition of rape. This definition was an updated

The issue of rape, marital rape, stranger rape or rape in general is a very sensitive one, especially in such a time, where in many countries sex laws are not defined and to top it all off there are some very conservative religious views that hold great importance due to the believers of that particular religion, belief and even thoughts or way of thinking which can also be referred to as the norms of the society because the general way of thinking is what develops those norms. To truly understand this issue, we must first look at what is the basic definition of, and difference between, rape and sex. Sex or intercourse is an act which is performed by two individuals; willingly and it is considered to be a healthy and a natural process which leads to one of the most magnificent miracles in all of existence: the miracle and blessing of birth (Shrivastava, Jain and Hazra).

For centuries societies have systematically oppressed women through the perpetuation of rape culture. The origins of the word rape, which is defined as any form of sexual intercourse committed without consent of the second party, come from the Greek root- to steal. The very etymology of the word rape hides within it the cultural assumptions that pervade our society’s mindset. As time has told throughout the history of law, the rape of a woman, until very recently has been seen and constructed as a property crime in which redress was awarded to a husband or father rather than to the actual victim. This objectification of women in the eyes of the law has been seen as early as the Code of Hammurabi, which stated that both the perpetrator and the victim were liable in the instance of rape and therefore are both sentenced to death. Early Hebrew law also followed this same rule of equal liability but also added concessions about the time frame and location in which the crime occurred. For example, if the rape took place within city limits it was up to the women to scream and actively portray her lack of consent in order to hopefully attract the attention of other city dwellers that would then assist in stopping the rape. If a woman was raped outside city limits, where aid during the attack was less likely, the woman was not punished and instead the assailant was to pay a bride price and marry his victim. During the Middle Ages, specifically during the reign of