Why Marital Rape Is Not Okay

by Ayesha Jain, 10 June 2015

You married your princess and now the two of you are enjoying the first day of your honeymoon on an exotic island. As you lay on the beach soaking up the sun together, you cannot stop admiring your wife and thinking about how impressive your wedding was. You'll never forget the moment you first saw her. Her dress was spectacular, hair perfect and the henna the best you have ever seen. Sundar, you whispered to yourself.

In the evening you share your first romantic dinner together as husband and wife. Great food, candles and a beautiful wife, could life get any better?

After dinner the two of you retire to your honeymoon suite. You embrace your wife in a hug as she tells you how wonderful the day was. The two of you have never had sex before but you are married now and this is your honeymoon. Your heart beats faster as you begin passionately kissing her but there is a problem. She doesn't feel comfortable with having sex yet and pulls away. She tells you that she would like to take things slow.

Still feeling aroused and not wanting your day ruined, you force yourself upon her. Using your superior strength you hold her down. It's not your problem if she isn't comfortable, she'll get over it. And besides, there is no such thing as marital rape in India, it is your right as husband to have sex with your wife. While she cries out in pain, you use the law to convince yourself what you are doing is okay.

The truth is, no matter what our antique laws state, raping your wife is not okay.

Unfortunately, the short story above is one that is told all too often in India. It is estimated that the number of women raped by their husbands is 40 times that of women raped by men they do not know. Recently the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women requested that India criminalise marital rape. Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary responded by saying that there is currently no proposal within the Indian Government to criminalise marital rape.

If the Indian Government will not amend Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code to protect women against marital rape then we must rely upon education to solve this enormous social problem. Marriage bureaus such as iMarriages are best situated to provide education where it will be most effective and there for have a moral obligation to do so.

Below are a few images which explain in simple terms why marital rape is not okay.

Rape Is Torture - Manfred Nowak

Rape Is A War Crime - United Nations resolution 1820

Rape Destroys Communities - Major-General Patrick Cammaert

Rape Is A Slow Murder - Slavebja Drakulic