Two Parts of Spousal Rape

Rape can be committed by anyone including, a stranger, friends, or spouse. When a person says no to sexual intercourse, but is subjected to it anyway against their will, rape has occurred. Many times in relationships where two people may be married or in a long term relationship domestic violence occurs after a period of time.

The individuals in a relationship have either come to a point in which one is submissive to the other or respect for one has been completely lost. When domestic abuse occurs later in a relationship, it is often hard to decipher the cause of it. Even worse, it is hard for the victim to escape a situation in which they have become accustomed to. Spousal rape occurs when a spouse sexually takes advantage of their significant other.

Spousal rape often sprouts from other forms of domestic violence, and occurs over a period of time. Victims of this type of rape experience different trauma than those that are raped by strangers, or anyone who is not their significant other. Victims of spousal rape feel betrayed, violated, and empty.

When someone that is entrusted to the highest degree violates them they experience breaches of trust. Spouses share their lives together which includes shared finances, children, and property. Besides the physical betrayal, victims experience loss all around them. When a person is a victim of rape they can turn to their family, and friends that love them. When a person is raped by a spouse their family life is disrupted. Spousal rape disrupts the base of a relationship, and makes it impossible for the victim to engage in consensual sexual intercourse with the rapist again.

Spouses often experience other domestic issues before and after a rape has occurred. For example, yelling, name calling, or physical fighting may occur. Victims of this type of rape are often confused and trapped within that relationship. These feelings are especially true when rape happens within a marriage. Most victims are afraid to speak up within marriages because they feel that they are supposed to please their partner.

Just like in other domestic violence situations, a victim will blame themselves and feel inadequate. This is a dangerous way to feel and act because it only makes it easier for the spouse to rape or hurt the victim again. Often spousal abuse is compared to domestic violence that is physical and verbal. The victims often feel the same.

Spousal Rape is broken down into two parts:

Violent Rape is when the abuser uses domestic violence to force the victim into having sex with them. Many times the victim will experience injuries that are noticeable like black eyes, broken jaws, broken ribs, and alike. In these cases the rape alone does not satisfy the abuser, and they often belittle the victim before, after, and during sex.

Force-Only Rape occurs when the spouse acting as the abuser has sex with the victimized spouse by controlling them. The different way in which a victim can be controlled can be both physical and verbally. In this instance an abuser will use threats to convince the victim into engaging in sex. They may also use fear to guide the victim into submission as well. Physically, the abuser usually does not commit domestic violence against the victim in this case, but they do physically hold down, or maneuver the victim in their favor.


Victims of rape often do not fight back so that they do not suffer noticeable injuries. In the case of spousal rape, the same applies, however they victim may also have children that they want to keep unaware of the violent act. Domestic violence is known to be directly correlated with spousal rape since those in abusive situations often are raped or tormented sexually. Victims of both domestic violence and spousal rape do not always recognize that they are being mistreated. Victims sometimes feel that when they are married or involved with someone for a long time, they somehow gain ownership over each other.

This is not the case. Being married to someone does not mean that individually spouses do not own their own bodies. Individuals can form a union, however, they are still individuals. Many victims look for reasons to defend and protect their spouses to avoid embarrassment, and interference by their families and authorities. Many of the victims of this type of rape do not end the relationship, and do not remove themselves from the household that they share with their attacker.

When spouses have children, domestic violence can cause those children to get taken away. For this reason, victims are also afraid of reporting these instances. In some countries spousal rape is legal. However, most Sometimes even though it is illegal, authorities do not recognize it as an issue. The overwhelming majority of spousal rape cases involve men raping their wives.

Legally, domestic violence has become increasingly intolerable in many nations. On an international level, world health organizations and nations as separate entities have worked to make these instances of rape between spouses illegal. Afghanistan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Zambia have yet to implement criminal charges for spousal rape.

NEXT: Statutory Rape