Marital rape
From RationalWiki
Marital rape is just like any other "kind" of rape -- that is, forcible unwanted sexual contact -- except that it occurs between two people who are married.
The roots of the concept lie in many older cultures' treatment of women as chattel, or the property of their fathers, brothers, and eventually, husband. In the modern era, as women have been understood and legally recognized as "human beings", the concept of a wife being the property of her husband for the purpose of perpetuating his progeny has fallen by the wayside. However, not all cultures or traditions have entered this "modern era" yet.[1]
Fundamentalist religious sects are not terribly helpful to women with sexually demanding and inconsiderate (and perhaps also violent) husbands.
People like Phyllis Schlafly believe that a husband is entitled to have sex with his wife any time he wants, and that her unwillingness to have sex with him would not justify a charge of rape, since to Phyllis and her ilk, marriage implies automatic and perpetual consent. Either such people have not studied what is said about the harm caused by rape in marriage or they consider such opinions unimportant. The following is from a website counselling abuse victims.
- "Marital rape is so destructive because it betrays the fundamental basis of the marital relationship, because it questions every understanding you have not only of your partner and the marriage, but of yourself. You end up feeling betrayed, humiliated and, above all, very confused."[2]
Many fundamentalists believe that their daughters should remain chaste and be sheltered from anything beyond rudimentary sex education until marriage. If these women marry young, they enter marriage knowing little or nothing about reproduction and sexuality. This makes it difficult for them to understand their rights, or defend themselves when their husband is "in the mood" and they aren't. Or, if they want him to help them experience an orgasm, and he doesn't know what that means.
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Legally speaking, universal attention to the issue of spousal rape came in 1993, when the UN High Commission on Human Rights added "spousal rape", and in fact an entire section on violence against women, to their statement of Basic Human Rights, entitled "Declaration of ending Violence against Women", to which France, Germany and the UK and the US are signatories.
- ↑ http://www.hiddenhurt.co.uk/Articles/maritalrape.htm
