- At the outset, let us all be on the same page while mentioning everyone owns their bodies without anyone else laying claim over the same. Irrespective of gender, this statement should be treated as no less than an inalienable fact. Especially concerning women assumes paramount importance as the other sex is always fighting to be treated at par where patriarchy and misogyny rule to this day. Since times immemorial, women have been at the receiving end from the male-dominated society hell-bent on subjugating the former through dubious means, including the despicable act of rape.
PC: Women social corner
- This is one debate that should be unmistakably taken seriously by all the concerned stakeholders of society. And the misfortune of suffering womenfolk continues to this day despite making tremendous progressions in the way we lead our lives on the back of modernity-defined inventions over the millennium. Unfortunately, women’s lot has not changed much even though we constantly hear about gender equality, parity, unbiased treatment, equal opportunities, and level playing fields being bandied about by the government authorities.
- On the ground, the situation has not witnessed palpable change except cosmetic changes here and there. Against this backdrop, the issue of marital rape keeps making its presence in various forums inviting passionate views and counterviews from different quarters, and mostly legal points of view. Recently, the Delhi High Court heard a clutch of petitions on overturning the marital rape exception in rape law. While hearing the same, the judge asked why the legal response should be different for a married woman and a sex worker. Of course, the learned judge was questioning the argument that consent is hard to prove in specific instances where there is already a sexual relationship between the partners.
PC: Ritika Jain
- Buttressing the argument further, it should be self-evident that all women, whether sex workers or other workers, married or unmarried, are irrefutably the sole owners of their bodies. Needless to mention, to have sex with them, their consent must be established. Just because of marriage and the accompanying legal backing to indulge in conjugal rights does not provide anyone with blanket freedom to forcefully pounce on partners to satiate carnal desires. Women partners must consent to participate in the coital act even in marriages otherwise the very perpetuation of such an act should be deemed as rape. Mind you, rape is a violation of a woman’s autonomy, and marriage does not make her consent irrelevant.
- Counterarguments about how deleting the marital rape exception will destabilize families only degrade the institution casting it as a torture chamber. Staying on the topic, the court noted all laws can be potentially misused. Unfortunately, we only see facile hand-wringing about laws that challenge established social power. Most welcomingly, several progressive legal systems now acknowledge that spousal rape is a crime. On the other hand, India is an exception treating it on a par with domestic abuse and providing civil remedies. While marital rape is prosecuted in different ways, there is no justification for not legally recognising the crime. The high hurdles for proof land the social bias are all the more reasons to do so. If a woman is seen as a citizen, there can be no ambiguity as seeing rape as rape. And no should be construed as no, nothing else!
