The Inequalities of Marital Rape
The punishments for marital rape are not as harsh as the punishments for rape itself. The government has took the time to make it a law that raping your partner is forbidden, but in some states the law is not enforced as harshly as it should be.
Dear Future President,
I’m sure you are aware of the problems with marital rape in the United States. The law has been made official, but in some states the punishments aren’t as harsh. Over 7 million women have been raped by their intimate partners in our country (Mahoney, Williams & West, 2001; Tjaden & Thoennes, 1998). This has been given little attention from social scientists, practitioners, and the criminal justice system. No matter what type of rape it is, rape is rape, and the consequences should be equal.
In 30 sates, there are still some exemptions to the sexual offence of a partner. That is more than half of the states in the United States. If we are ignoring this issue, what kind of country do we portray ourselves to be? There was a case in the United States where the lower court judged agreed with the defendant that he shouldn’t be prosecuted. Imagine if this was your daughter, you would want the justice for her any other rape victim has.
Marital rape is so common that it is not confined to women of any specific age, race, ethnicity, social class, or geographic location. Before the violence ends, the assaults may occur 20 times or more (Bergen, 1996). Victims of marital rape go through this for so long, and finally when they speak up about it, they don’t get the justice that they deserve. They have to worry about what’s going to happen to them when they go home and how they are going to protect themselves. If you have a heart then you know that this shouldn’t be an issue at all.
Most marital rape cases are based off of an attempt to leave. The husband attempts to establish dominance and control over his wife and takes the actions of beating and raping her. Most cases involve sadistic or obsessive rape; these assaults involve torture such as physical violence or the use of weapons. Some men argue that once they are married the woman are now “theirs” and they can do what they want to them. They are seeing their wives as their “property” and anyone should be able to see that this deserves a harsh penalty.
I am asking that you strengthen the enforcement on marital rape, and also ensure that the laws for marital rape and any other type of rape are equal in all states. We want the women in our country to feel safe and secure, not worried and afraid. If we do not change this, then men are going to feel as if their wives are their property and more of them are going to begin to rape their wives and think they can get away with it. This would cause chaos and that is not what we want in our free country.
Sincerely,
Saleasia R.