April - June 2010 - Bureau of Police Research and Development

Marital Rape : The Assasination of a Woman's Dignitymovement. Differentcountries areincorporatingrespective changes intheir legislations tocriminalize thispractice. But thisconsciousness is yetto be realized in theIndian legal system.No country, no society,no neighborhood, nofamily is oblivious ofthis social malice ofmarital rape. But inspiteof this fact, we still livein a society where it isthought better not todiscuss it andbroken trust, and may feel she cannot trust herselfto decide which people are safe and which arenot. Feelings of grief and loss are common forvictim/survivors of marital rape because the rapeis a break in an important relationship. Thesurvivor may still love her assailant, and mayfeel terribly torn and confused because of this.She may experience a great loss of self-esteem,and feel worthless because someone who "loved"her did something so horrible to her.The loss of control over her own life is alwaysan issue for a sexual assault survivor, but whenthat assault takes place within marriage the lossis extreme. When the sexual violence is a part ofa pattern of physical and emotional abuse, thevictim/survivor is likely to feel even morepowerless because of the controlling behavior ofher spouse. The survivor cannot go home to findsafety and support because the cause of thetrauma is in the home; there may seem to be noplace of safety anywhere.Lack of support from family and friends is alsooften a problem. Some other difficulties may arisefor a woman if the assailant/husband is also theeconomic provider for the family, or the father ofher children. For women in this situation, adecision to confront the perpetrator, report thecrime or even try to escape would mean riskingloss of income, loss of home and loss of children,not to mention the loss of a spouse. For somewomen, the ability to "keep a man" is importantto feelings of self worth, and they may feel itnecessary to put up with the violence All theseentanglements and more, along with the religiousand social beliefs mentioned above, may functionto keep women in marriages where they areraped. This sense of entanglement may cause asurvivor to feel that she is, therefore, responsiblefor the abuse. In addition, survivors who see noway of escape may deny or minimize the violencethey live with in order to survive it.In Marital Rape: In New Research and Directionsit has been said that despite the myth that hashistorically existed that rape by one's partner isa relatively insignificant event causing littletrauma, research indicates that marital rape oftenhas severe and long-lasting consequences forwomen. The physical effects of marital rape mayinclude injuries to the vaginal and anal areas,lacerations, soreness, bruising, torn muscles,fatigue, and vomiting. Women who have beenbattered and raped by their husbands may sufferother physical consequences including brokenbones, black eyes, bloody noses, and knifewounds that occur during the sexual violence.Specific gynecological consequences of maritalrape include vaginal stretching, anal tearing, pelvicpain, urinary tract infections, miscarriages,stillbirths, bladder infections, infertility, and thepotential contraction of sexually transmitteddiseases including HIV/AIDS. A study conductedby Maman, Campbell, Sweat, and Gielen (2000)found that there is a relationship betweenincreased HIV risk and forced sexual intercourse.Most notably this is the result of women's inabilityto use barrier contraceptives because of theirpartners' threats or refusal to use condoms(Bennice & Resick, 2003; Eby et al., 1995). Theinability to use contraception may also lead tounwanted pregnancy.Some researchers have compared thepsychological effects of being raped by one'spartner to other forms of violence. Given thatwomen who are raped by their partners are likelyto experience multiple assaults, completed sexualattacks, and that they are raped by someonewhom they once presumably loved and trusted,it is not surprising that marital rape survivorsseem to suffer severe and long-term psychologicalconsequences. Similar to other survivors of sexualviolence, some of the short-term effects of maritalrape include anxiety, shock, intense fear,depression, suicidal ideation, disordered sleeping,and post-traumatic stress disorder. Women rapedby their intimate partners are more likely to bediagnosed with depression or anxiety than thosewho are victims of physical violence and thosewho were sexually assaulted by someone otherthan one's partner. Long-term effects often includedisordered eating, sleep problems, depression, and66 ➢ The Indian Police Journal Vol. LVII-No. 2, April-June, 2010