- You have access Access
Criminalizing Sexual Violence Against Women in Intimate Relationships: State Obligations Under Human Rights Law
- International Legal Obligation to Criminalize Marital Rape
- Article
- You have access Access
Criminalization of sexual violence against women in intimate relationships must form a central part of the human rights agenda for achieving gender equality. According to a study by the United Nations Secretary-General, “[t]he most common form of violence experienced by women globally is intimate partner violence” including “a range of sexually , psychologically and physically coercive acts.” The World Health Organization reports that nearly one in four women in some countries may experience sexual violence perpetrated against them by an intimate partner. Other research suggests that approximately 40% of all assaulted women are forced into sex at one time or another by their male partners.
Marital Rape, Consent, and Human Rights: Comment on “Criminalizing Sexual Violence Against Women in Intimate Relationships”
- International Legal Obligation to Criminalize Marital Rape
- Article
- You have access Access
Randall and Venkatesh’s important essay Criminalizing Sexual Violence against Women in Intimate Relationships is a breakthrough in our understanding of human rights, rape, and the institution of marriage, and the intersection of the three. Rape within marriage, the authors argue, strips its victims of multiple human rights, and therefore any state’s refusal to criminalize it is a violation of international law. However, more than half the countries in the world, according to the authors, fail to explicitly criminalize rape or sexual assault within marriage (which I will sometimes call “marital rape” in this comment). In this comment I will first briefly elaborate on the authors’ thesis, emphasizing what it tells us about the meaning, respectively, of “marriage,” “rape,” and “law.” I will then register three objections, or qualifications, to their argument.
Considering the Role of the State: Comment on “Criminalizing Sexual Violence Against Women in Intimate Relationships”
- International Legal Obligation to Criminalize Marital Rape
- Article
- You have access Access
International human rights frameworks offer powerful support for a range of reforms to address marital rape. Melanie Randall and Vasanthi Venkatesh’s valuable commentary, Criminalizing Sexual Violence against Women in Intimate Relationships , correctly shines a spotlight on the extent to which marital rape is still accepted in too many countries around the world, and calls for its explicit criminalization under international human rights laws. The commentary serves as an important reminder of the challenges and enduring stereotypes that prevent marital rape from being recognized globally as a human rights violation. But the commentary’s focus on criminalization as the fundamental response is unduly limited. While criminalization, whether explicit or implicit, is a core part of states’ obligations under international human rights law, centering criminal justice risks both shortchanging other approaches and obscuring the problems with criminal justice interventions. Although Randall and Venkatesh acknowledge that criminalization is but one element of a broader strategy, this essay urges a broader view. International human rights laws’ due diligence framework requires a range of responses that include the obligation to prevent, protect, and provide redress, along with the obligation to prosecute and punish. Explicitly framing states’ obligations in terms of that more comprehensive approach would reach broadly to address the cultural and social barriers that allow marital rape to continue without sanction.
