Marital Rape: Intervention Practices Research Paper

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Marital rape is defined as sex without mutual agreement, which can occur through the vagina, anus or even the mouth. The definition is not consistent; it changes from one country to another (Bergen, 1996; Russell, 1990). Marital rape is marked as one of the most widespread ways of violation against women with most studies indicating that victims are legally married couples, those separated, divorced or living together. The basic concept is that the different forms of sexual violence between couples who have lived together for long and those that are married remains the same (Mahoney & Williams, 1998). In as much as no publications of marital rape between gay and lesbian couples have been found, am emergence of such literature is slowly coming up (Bergen & Barnhill, 2006).

The extent of marital rape was brought to light by Diana Russell's research that was done in 1990 in San Francisco. The study interviewed a total of 930 women selected randomly from a well representative community. Rape by intimates was indicated as the most common with an estimation of 10 to 14% of women being married (Finkelhor & Yllo, 1985; Russell, 1990). A different study of Canadian women done by Randall and Haskell (1995) indicted that 30% were sexually violated in their adulthood and by their intimate partners.

In the U.S., more than 7 million women have been victims of marital rape based on the results of study of violence against women to the recent time (Mahoney, Williams & Weast, 2001; Tjaden & Thoennes, 1998). The number of women who continue to become victims of marital rape may be on the rise in the recent time compared to the past reason being that most of them have been victims of physical abuse and for this same reason they are susceptible to become victims of rape (Campbell, 1989; Pence & Paymar, 1993). If the number of women who have been emotionally forced to consent to sex is included then the widespread is even more. Basile (2002) found that marital responsibility forced an estimated number of 34% of women to unwillingly consent to sex.

The reality of marital rape was brought to be in the 1970's but regardless of its widespread, social scientists, practitioners, the criminal justice system, and the whole society has not been able to shed light to this form of violence against women as required (Bergen, 2005). In the present time, some participants still doubt the possibility of raping one's own wife with evidence pointing out that majority rating marital rape as an inferior crime in comparison to other societal forms of rape (Whatley, 2005; Kirkwood & Cecil, 2001). Done among college students, an attitude study indicated that the perception of marital rape scored less in terms seriousness compared to when done by a complete stranger. Only half the population confirmed that a husband is capable of raping his wife (Bergen & Barnhill, 2006).

The content of this paper provides the current knowledge of marital rape in summary. A brief discussion is done on the historical background of marital rape, how marital rape occurs, the effects that are brought about by marital rape and finally how practitioners intervene with survivors in cases of marital rape.

History of marital rape in relation to law

The rise and development of marital rape has been brought to existence by the law society. In ancient past, rape was defined as a sexual intercourse by a male with a female who is not his wife and has done so without her approval (Barshis, 1983). Having sex with their wives without mutual consent was a privilege that most men enjoyed but this definition of rape on the contrary would mean that men would not face any criminal charges or prosecution if they raped their wives- a concept that brought the meaning of "license to rape" (Finkelhor and Yllo, 1985).

As long as a woman is married, they hold the responsibility of submitting to having sex with their husbands, a notion that came into being by the words of England's Chief Justice in the 17th century when he wrote that the husband cannot be held accountable for a rape carried out by him on his legally wedded wife. This is because of their mutual matrimonial agreement, as well as, her responsibilities, which the wife has surrendered to her husband; responsibilities she cannot retract from (quoted in Russell, 1990, p. 17). For a long time this concept of excluding men from the wrath of justice was not opposed until the 1970s.

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The inability to give equal protection from rape to the entire female population was an argument that was brought to table by particular members who belonged to an anti-rape movement (Bergen & Barnhill, 2006).

In states that are still predominated by male ideologies, there still exists the concept of spousal exemptions in majority states as marital rape still enjoys privileges of being treated as an inferior crime compared to other forms of rape (DeKeseredy, Rogness, & Schwartz, 2004). Cases of marital rape continue to be on the rise due to two main factors. 1. Spousal exemption brings to the understanding that wives are under the ownership and rule of their husbands and that the marriage union gives the right to sex 2. Such an act of aggressive behavior are not punishable as other rape cases are (Russell, 1990).

How marital rape occurs

Interviews done by women where they are sharing their experiences of sexual violence have provided the most wonderful research on marital rape so far. Women who have never reported their experiences and those that are over-represented are just some of the possible disadvantages that the research may suffer. This research is also not limited to the boundaries of age, race, ethnicity, social class or geographic location. Women are raped by their partners at different ages as indicated by Russell (1990) with facts showing that two-thirds of the wives encountered their first experience of rape when they were below the age of 25. Recent research indicate that marital rape and sexual violence is on the increase for women in the remote places in as much as most cases have only been reported in the urban areas (Bergen & Barnhill, 2006). The rate of marital rape was shown to be on the high for African-American more than white women, Latinas, and Asian women in that particular order.

Different forms of marital rape

Apart from the well-known ideology of just a mere quarrel involving a man and his wife, men often employ the use of violent threats, weapons against their wives and also serious physical violence. The build-up of violence to possible murder is an act that researchers indicate that men who batter and rape at the same time are more likely to do compared to those who only batter and this particular group of men are the most dangerous (Browne, 1987; Campbell, 1989). Different forms of violence usually happen to women who are being raped. Assaults like intercourse of the anus and the mouth are also likely to happen more than 20 times before violence begins (Bergen & Barnhill, 2006). Such experiences may happen more to women raped by their partners in relation to those raped by acquaintances (Peacock, 1995).

Battered, Sadistic and Obsessive Rape

Some researchers argue that marital rape and domestic violence are more or less the same (Johnson & Sigler, 1997). This is because of the revelation of a study about battered women that indicated that between 20%-70% have at least once been sexually assaulted (Bergen, 1996; Browne, 1993; Mahoney et al., 1998). Most victims of marital rape are also battered; an argument that supports the idea that marital rape is a form of domestic violence (Bergen & Barnhill, 2006).

Women who are victims of rape and battery experience both physical and sexual violence in different ways- for instance the experience of sexual violence may be accompanied by battery, or the rape may come soon after the physical violence in the form of "making up" without the wife's consent (Bergen & Barnhill, 2006).

"Sadistic" or "Obsessive" rape on the other hand involves torture. Pornography is the central focus as the man demands that the wife copy and do exactly the same acts that are done in the movie (Bergin & Barnhill, 2006).

Arguments have emerged that marital rape should not be defined as an extension of domestic violence because of the fact that the idea that led to marital rape had been underestimated in the past. Marital rape should be understood as an independent form of violence because victims of rape and battery suffer a lot of trauma, a situation that needs to be rectified especially by the authorities. In recent study, many definitions of sexual violence have come up to understand women's experiences of marital rape that force them into sex either out of obligation or need. Finkelhor & Yllo (1985) went ahead.....

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