INDIA’S STRUGGLE TO MAKE MARITAL RAPE A CRIMINAL OFFENSE

AUTHOR – SOUMYA PATNAIK & TITHI NASKAR

STUDENTS AT BIRLA GLOBAL UNIVERSITY

 BEST CITATION – SOUMYA PATNAIK & TITHI NASKAR, INDIA’S STRUGGLE TO MAKE MARITAL RAPE A CRIMINAL OFFENSE, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 5 (6) OF 2025, PG. 228-233, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

ABSTRACT

Marital rape is when there is any sexual activity between two spouses and one of them does not give consent, one partner is having sexual intercourse with the other without his/her consent or will, through threats, manipulation. Traditionally, the concept of marriage itself is so patriarchal that it gives a man complete independence to have sexual intercourse with his wife whenever he wants without taking the wife’s consent, basically the concept of marriage associates with the idea of sexual entitlement. These type of abuse or violence raises questions about the basic human rights of the victim and also affects the mental and physical health of the victim. Sexual abuse within a marriage has been historically normalized and overlooked, and therefore sexual access is presumed as the right of the husband, this outdated thinking is contributing a lot towards the invisibility of marital rape in the country and the victims are suffering torture due to shame and fear of not getting any legal protection. The concept of marital rape challenges the special right or privileges a man enjoys. Historically, it protects or shields husband after raping his wife, there are mental effects of marital rape which often gets ignored because of no physical evidence of it. The mental trauma, depression, anxiety, feeling of being betrayed, not feeling safe in one’s own house affects an individual badly.

KEYWORDS

 marital rape, consent, spouses, sexual intercourse, abuse, violence, human rights, betrayal, safety, shame, trauma, legal protection, normalization, threats, manipulation, sexual entitlement, invisibility, outdated thinking, mental health.