Why Should Marital Rape Be Criminalised?

There are multiple reasons why a dreadful and gruesome act like marital rape should be criminalised. Anyone official website who deprives a woman of her basic rights, liberty and dignity should be punished. Some reasons why marital rape should be criminalised are as follows:

Consent – No matter what the age of the woman, the marital status, the clothes she was wearing, etc, none of this should be considered when giving a judgement on rape. Rape is a rape irrespective of all those factors, all rapists should get punished. The fact that the rapist was the victim’s husband should not mean he should get no punishment at all or get a less severe punishment. Thus, consent should play a role even in marriages and it is important for a husband and wife to mutually consent in order to engage in sexual activity.

Unconstitutional in nature- Marital rape defies other laws like the right to equality, right to a dignified existence, right to sexual privacy, etc. When an act goes against some important laws in the Constitution, the act should be criminalised without any kind of deviation or exception in order to not contradict other laws in the constitution and create ambiguity.

Evolution of culture and traditions- The law should constantly change and evolve. If it does not, the society will either stop developing or the people would go against the law.

Most countries like Australia, South Africa, Canada etc have made changes to their laws and abolished the exception of marital rape. Similarly, Section 375 of theIndian Penal Code should be amended soon in order to protect the women of our country. Repealing this law would prevent marital rapes to some extent which would be a good start.

Conclusion
India has moved forward when it comes to laws for women. For example, dowry, adultery, divorce, etc, have been some good improvements made in favour of the female citizens of the country. Similarly, criminalizing marital rape would be a huge victory for India. By doing this, the society would also evolve and the people will move forward from a system filled with patriarchy. The first step towards doing this is erasing the line that differentiates rape from marital rape. If marital rapes are treated as just rapes, the rapists would get the same punishment. In India, putting the conventional customs and traditions on a pedestal has been so normalised that a horrific act such as marital rape is not even considered to be a crime.