A need to acknowledging Marital Rape as an Offence
What is Marital Rape?
Any sexual intercourse between husband and wife without the consent of the wife along with physical abuse is considered to be marital rape. It is unfortunate that many women in our country are not even aware of the term marital rape and its meaning.
Women in general have always been considered as personal property or subjected to physical abuse of the husband. The Indian Penal Code defines ‘rape’ and provides punishment for the same in it, but the aspect of marital rape is totally neglected. The irony is that a stranger committing a forceful act on a woman is considered to be a serious crime but the husband performing the same act if, with the same amount of cruelty, it is not even considered to be an offense.
Marital rape is one of the biggest challenges that society is facing today. In Indian culture, a girl is often termed as a liability to society and a burden on her parents, therefore after her marriage her issues with her husband aren’t even heard in fact the girl is been asked to either neglect or adjust with them only to maintain a status in society.
In such a case, isn’t it high time to acknowledge that marital rape is an offense?
We all know for a fact that marital rape is wrong and inhuman but we don’t see it as a crime because there aren’t any specific laws and legislations imposed on it. According to the Indian culture and society sex between man and woman even with the consent of the woman is considered wrong because marriage is the basis or a legal way to conduct consensual sex but what if sex between the couple after marriage is conducted without the consent of the wife? This is marital rape and it is a serious offense, the sooner we realize this, the sooner we can provide a free environment for women in our society.
Therefore Samarpan society, Dehradun, Uttarakhand one of the renowned NGOs extends its support to victims of marital rape. If you come across any such victims of marital rape in your neighborhood or locality feel free to contact us. Visit our website www.samarpankmc.com
