Indecent sexual conduct and sexual harassment have been one of the vices usually at the center of gender-related issues in the world today. The advent of gender equality and human rights activism has attempted to end the crime to limit indecent sexual acts such as rape, groping, gender stereotyping, or any other sexual crimes. One of the controversial issues around sexual harassment is marital abuse or rather marital rape. Marital rape is interpreted as a domestic violence issue where someone can have sexual intercourse with their spouses without consent (Oommen, 2012). However, this is an aspect which can be interpreted regarding the definition of the laws which bind married people in a particular society.
A husband should be accused of raping his wife if the woman declares that she did not consent to the sexual act. This is particularly because a husband has no right over the body of his wife, despite that they are married (Dhingra, 2015). Sexual intercourse or intimacy at any level should be consensual by all parties. Domestic violence mostly leads to marital rape and can inflict physical and psychological issues on the wife. Due to the effects of marital rape, it has been repudiated by many societies, and international conventions, as a criminal offense argues Dhingra, (2015). Therefore, a husband can be accused of violating the rights of a woman, if he engages in sexual activity with her without her consent.
People are bound by the laws which govern them, and therefore, if a husband is accused by the wife of marital rape, the law should take its course. Many cases of marital rape have not been prosecuted because of cultural, religious interpretations of marriage and the beliefs of female and male sexuality (Oommen, 2012. To conclude, the law is supreme over these concepts, and therefore a husband can be prosecuted for raping his own wife.
References
Dhingra, S. (2015). Criminalization of Marital Rape in India. SSRN Electronic Journal. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2604919
Oommen, G. (2012). Marital Rape- Is IT or Not a Sexual offense- A Retrospection. International Journal Of Scientific Research, 2(11), 260-261. http://dx.doi.org/10.15373/22778179/nov2013/83
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