Spousal Rape: Should Husbands Be Sentenced More Severely?
“Her friends used to tell her it wasn’t rape, IF the man was her husband. She didn’t say anything, but inside she seethed; she wanted to take a knife to their faces” (Batacan). When we hear the word rape, many times we believe that the act was carried out by someone who is a stranger or has no relation to the victim. However, out of all the rape cases reported between the years of 2005-2010, 34% of them are committed by an intimate partner (Langton, Planty, and Krebs 4). Rape is a heinous crime frowned upon in many countries. Spousal rape is illegal in all 50 states of America and few other countries. Husbands who are convicted of such crime are usually given a lesser sentence but should …show more content…
What is the difference between spousal rape and rape itself, other than one is considered being a marital issue? The definition of 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 consent because of mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception” (Merriam-Webster). In some cases, rape is not always by force. If a man threatens to use force or a wife is in fear of violence being used against her then she will submit to his command. To say that a husband is guilty of raping his wife only because he used force against her is a bit hypocritical to the definition. Threatening a person to do as you command can yield the same result as actually bringing harm to them. Actually, if a wife was previously harmed wouldn’t she be more willing to do what she was told? Well, 69% of women who are raped by their spouse are raped more than one time (Health Research Funding). Taking this into consideration, it would not be too hard to force your wife into having sex with you without applying physical violence to
“Her friends used to tell her it wasn’t rape, IF the man was her husband. She didn’t say anything, but inside she seethed; she wanted to take a knife to their faces” (Batacan). When we hear the word rape, many times we believe that the act was carried out by someone who is a stranger or has no relation to the victim. However, out of all the rape cases reported between the years of 2005-2010, 34% of them are committed by an intimate partner (Langton, Planty, and Krebs 4). Rape is a heinous crime frowned upon in many countries. Spousal rape is illegal in all 50 states of America and few other countries. Husbands who are convicted of such crime are usually given a lesser sentence but should …show more content…
What is the difference between spousal rape and rape itself, other than one is considered being a marital issue? The definition of 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 consent because of mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception” (Merriam-Webster). In some cases, rape is not always by force. If a man threatens to use force or a wife is in fear of violence being used against her then she will submit to his command. To say that a husband is guilty of raping his wife only because he used force against her is a bit hypocritical to the definition. Threatening a person to do as you command can yield the same result as actually bringing harm to them. Actually, if a wife was previously harmed wouldn’t she be more willing to do what she was told? Well, 69% of women who are raped by their spouse are raped more than one time (Health Research Funding). Taking this into consideration, it would not be too hard to force your wife into having sex with you without applying physical violence to