MARITAL RAPE MARRIED OR NOT RAPE ISABEL RAMOS

MARITAL RAPE MARRIED OR NOT; RAPE ISABEL RAMOS

MARITAL RAPE IN THE UNITED STATES • MARITAL RAPE IS ILLEGAL IN ALL 50 STATES • MARITAL RAPE WAS NOT COMPLETELY ILLEGAL UNTIL 1993 • ONE OUT OF EVERY EIGHT ADULT FEMALES HAVE BEEN THE VICTIM OF AT LEAST ONE FORCIBLE RAPE IN HER LIFETIME, BUT ONLY 16 PERCENT REPORT THE RAPE TO THE POLICE • ONLY 3. 2 PERCENT OF WOMEN WHO WERE RAPED BY SOMEONE THEY KNOW REPORTED IT TO THE POLICE • OUT OF THE MANY FEMALES THAT EXPERIENCE SPOUSAL RAPE, AN ASTOUNDING 69 PERCENT OF THEM ARE RAPED MORE THAN ONCE • WOMEN WITH RELIGIOUS BACKGROUNDS WERE MORE LIKELY TO ACCEPT MARITAL RAPE BECAUSE OF A FEAR OF A SPOUSE COMMITTING ADULTERY OR BEING CAST AS A SINNER FROM A RESULTING DIVORCE • WHEN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS PRESENT IN A RELATIONSHIP, THE RISK OF MARITAL RAPE INCREASES BY 70 PERCENT • FEMALES ARE AT A GREATER RISK FOR MARITAL RAPE IF THEY ARE DISCUSSING DIVORCE WITH THEIR SPOUSE • ONE OUT OF EVERY FOUR MARITAL RAPES HAPPENS RIGHT BEFORE A DIVORCE OR A SEPARATION • EIGHTEEN PERCENT OF MARITAL RAPE VICTIMS SAY THAT THEIR CHILDREN SAW THE SEXUAL ASSAULT

MANDY BOARDMAN • SHE IS A MOTHER OF A BOY AND A GIRL AND A BUSINESS OWNER. • AFTER HAVING KIDS AND A COUPLE OF YEARS OF MARRIAGE, HER HUSBAND HER BEGAN TO DRIFT APART. • AFTER 7 YEARS OF MARRIAGE, MANDY FOUND OUT HER HUSBAND WAS GIVING HER A XANAX AND/OR AMBIEN TO CAUSE HER TO GO INTO A DRUG-INDUCED SLEEP WHERE HE WOULD RAPE HER ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS. • FOR THREE YEARS SHE FOUGHT AGAINST HER OFFENDER AND IN THE SPRING OF 2014, SHE FINALLY WON AS HE WAS CONVICTED OF SIX CLASS B FELONIES, BUT WAS PUT ON HOUSE ARREST INSTEAD OF GOING TO JAIL. • EVENTUALLY MANDY’S EX-HUSBAND WAS PUT IN JAIL FOR FIVE YEARS FOR VIOLATING HIS HOUSE ARREST.

MARITAL RAPE IN INDIA • KNOWN FOR HAVING A LOT OF ARRANGED MARRIAGES AND THAT MARRIAGE IS A SACRAMENT. • MARRIAGE IS VIEWED AS AN UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN TWO FAMILIES PROMISING ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SECURITY TO A WOMAN IN EXCHANGE FOR SEXUAL AVAILABILITY AND FIDELITY, HOUSEKEEPING AND CHILD BIRTH AND CARE. • TWO OUT OF THREE INDIAN MEN SAID THEY EXPECT THEIR WIVES TO ALWAYS AGREE TO SEX • ACCORDING TO THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT, THEY HAVE ZERO TOLERANCE FOR VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND THEY EVEN STRENGTHENED THE PUNISHMENTS FOR SEXUAL OFFENSES, BUT IT IS COMPLETELY LEGAL TO COMMIT MARITAL RAPE. • FEMALES DO NOT EVEN REALIZE THAT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OR MARITAL RAPE IS OCCURRING, UNTIL IT IS BROUGHT TO THEIR ATTENTION. • 65 PERCENT OF FEMALES AGREED THAT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN A WOMAN DESERVES TO BE BEATEN, WHILE, 9 OUT OF 10 WOMEN SURVEYED SAID WIVES SHOULD “OBEY” THEIR HUSBANDS • ANTI-RAPE LAWS WERE MADE AND GIVEN TO THEI NDIAN GOVERNMENT, BUT THE GOVERNMENT PUT THE LAWS ASIDE AND WERE NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY. • A 23 -YEAR-OLDI NDIAN WOMAN WAS GANG RAPED BY SIX MEN ON A MOVING TRAIN IN

KARUNA NUNDY • A PROMINENTS UPREME COURT LAWYER WHO SPECIALIZES IN HUMAN RIGHTS AND COMMERCIAL LITIGATION • CONTRIBUTED TO THE COUNTRY’S DRAFTING OF THE ANTI-RAPE LAWS • OBTAINED HER LAW DEGREE ATC AMBRIDGE AND THEN A FELLOWSHIP AT NEW YORK’S COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY • WORKED ON A BILL OF RIGHTS FOR WOMEN IND ELHI [KNOWN AS THE ‘WOMANIFESTO’]. • HELPED TO AMEND THE INDIAN LAWS ADDING THAT POLICE OFFICERS WOULD BE HELD CRIMINALLY ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE REPORTING OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE. IF AN OFFICER FAILS TO REPORT A SEXUAL ASSAULT COMPLAINT, THEY THEMSELVES ARE NOW CRIMINALLY LIABLE. VIOLATIONS SUCH AS STALKING AND VOYEURISM WERE ALSO ADDED [TO THE PENAL CODE]. • “PEOPLE NEED TO START SEEING WOMEN AS FULL CITIZENS, FULL INDIVIDUALS, WITH THE RIGHT TO A TASTE IN MUSIC, WITH A RIGHT TO GO TO WORK, TO EXPRESS THEIR OWN SEXUALITIES THE WAY THEY WISH. ” • “CRIMINALIZING MARITAL RAPE IS ANOTHER TOP PRIORITY. DOCTRINALLY IN MY MIND, IT’S SO CLEAR: RAPE IS RAPE. BUT THERE HAS BEEN SO MUCH OPPOSITION TO MAKING MARITAL RAPE A CRIME. ”