Marital Rape: Congress Leader & Experts Advocate Seeking Married Women's Consent Before Sex

A number of NGOs in Delhi have filed several petitions to make marital rape a criminal offence. The 2015-16 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4), conducted in 29 Indian states, reported that at least 7 percent married women had been forced by their husbands to have sex with them.

In a first, Rahul Gandhi, the leader of India's main opposition party Congress, has tweeted on the issue of marital rape.

He said it's important to emphasise consent to ensure women's safety.

Consent is amongst the most underrated concepts in our society.

It has to be foregrounded to ensure safety for women. #MaritalRape

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 16, 2022

The Congress parliamentarian comment comes as the Delhi Court continues hearing several petitions seeking to make marital rape a criminal offence.

This is the first time a prominent politician has spoken out about marital rape. Ghandi's tweet has so far garnered thousands of likes and retweets.

According to Section 375 of Indian law, rape is defined as forced sexual intercourse by a man with any woman except his wife above 15 years of age.

But the women activists are happy at least "the issue of marital rape is being discussed in the country."

Speaking with Sputnik, Ranjana Kumari, a women's rights activist and the chairperson of Women Power Connect, a non-profit, non-governmental organisation of women's groups, said that in Indian society, marriage is considered sacrosanct.

"Which also means that women have given her consent to her husband over her body, hence, the topic is debatable in itself," she said.

"In 2012, when I first raised, it was rejected without any debate and many men laugh at it, saying police cannot be brought into the bedroom. So I'm happy that now society has started acknowledging the issue," Kumari stressed.

Last week, the Delhi government told the court that the non-criminalisation of marital rape does not compel a woman to have sexual intercourse with her husband.

However, in its affidavit, the federal government has taken a stand that criminalising marital rape may "become a phenomenon that may destabilise the institution of marriage and an easy tool for harassing the husbands."

Marital rape has been increasingly challenged across the world and over the years, more than 100 countries, including the United States, Russia, and Britain have outlawed marital rape.

India is among a few of those countries where the topic remains debatable.

In recent years, many unhappy wives and lawyers have petitioned courts, calling for the "offending law" to be repealed.

Divya Srinivasan, an advocate and woman rights activist, said, "Even now, it is very difficult to report a rape case in the country. Most of the time, it is done by a known one and family members feel shame about it."

"A wife charging her husband of rape, this is unheard in Indian society and even if law changes, the wife won't get any support from the society."

In August 2021, the Kerala High Court held that marital rape was a valid reason to seek divorce.

Similarly, in November 2017, the Gujarat High Court had said that marital rape is a "disgraceful offence" and not criminalising it has made "a large population of women" suffer.

A study conducted by the International Centre for Women (ICRW) and United Nations Population Fund's (UNPFA) across seven states in India covering 9,205 men, reported that one-third of the men admitted to have engaged in forced a sexual act on their wives.