Marital rape in the United States


Marital rape in United States law, also known as spousal rape, is non-consensual sex in which the perpetrator is the victim's spouse. It is a form of partner rape, of domestic violence, and of sexual abuse. Today, marital rape is illegal in all 50 US states, though the details of the offence vary by state.
The traditional definition of rape in the United States is the forced sexual intercourse by a male with a "female not his wife", making it clear that the statutes did not apply to married couples. The 1962 Model Penal Code repeated the marital rape exemption, stating:
Reforms of marital rape laws in the United States began in the mid-1970s with the criminalization of marital rape. The earlier laws of the 1970s often required the husband and wife to no longer be living together for marital rape charges to be brought. The case in the United States that first challenged this cohabitation clause was Oregon v. Rideout in 1978. In the case, the husband was accused of raping his wife, the first man in the United States to be charged with raping his wife while they were still living together. The trial was the first in Oregon relating to marital rape since the state revised its rape law in 1977 to eliminate the marital rape immunity. Although the husband was acquitted of raping his wife, it spurred the movement towards reform. By 1993 marital rape was a crime in all 50 states. Still, in the 1990s, most states continued to differentiate between the way marital rape and non-marital rape was viewed and treated. The laws have continued to change and evolve, with most states reforming their laws in the 21st century. But there are still states, like South Carolina, where marital and non-marital rape are treated quite differently under the law.

To 1993

The views which contributed to rape laws not being applicable in marriage can be traced, at least partially, to 17th century English common law, which was imported to the British American colonies. The 17th-century English jurist, Sir Matthew Hale, stated the position of the common law in The History of the Pleas of the Crown that a "husband cannot be guilty of a rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind to her husband which she cannot retract". The ruling, although no legal record of which is found earlier than Hale, likely relied on even earlier standards. In a case of Lord Audley's, for instance, he cites the jurist Bracton in support of this rule, said to derived from laws of King Æthelstan where upon the law holds that even "were the party of no chaste life, but a whore, yet there may be ravishment: but it is a good plea to say she was his concubine". This would continue to be accepted as a statement of the law in England and Wales until it was overturned by the House of Lords in the case of R. v. R in 1991, where it was described as an anachronistic and offensive legal fiction.
The strong historical influence of Christianity in the US may have also played a role: the Bible at 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 explains that one has a "conjugal debt" to have sexual relations with one's spouse and states that "The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent " - and this is interpreted by some conservative religious figures as rejecting the possibility of marital rape.
In the United States, prior to the mid-1970s marital rape was exempted from ordinary rape laws. The exemption is also found in the 1962 Model Penal Code, which stated that "A male who has sexual intercourse with a female not his wife is guilty of rape if: ".
In the Oregon v. Rideout case in December 1978, a jury acquitted John Rideout of raping his wife. This led many American states to allow prosecution for marital and cohabitation rape.
In some states, courts have struck down the marital exemption as unconstitutional. In the 1984 New York Court of Appeals case of People v. Liberta, judge Sol Wachtler stated that "a marriage license should not be viewed as a license for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity. A married woman has the same right to control her own body as does an unmarried woman". Similarly, in Alabama, the marital exemptions from the sodomy law and from the rape law were found unconstitutional.
By 1993, all states had withdrawn the marital rape exemptions, the last states to do so being Oklahoma and North Carolina or the exemption had been declared judicially to be unconstitutional.

Changes since 1993

Although marital rape exemptions had been withdrawn in all states by 1993 or been declared judicially to be unconstitutional, in only 17 states was marital rape treated the same as non-marital rape. In the other states there continued to be significant differences in the way marital and non-marital rape were treated, such as less severe penalties, or excluding situations where no violence is used, or shorter reporting periods.
During the 1990s many states differentiated between three categories of victims:
In the 1990s and beyond, feminists, women's and other organizations have continued to lobby for the amendment of marital rape laws to ensure marital rape is regarded and treated like any other rape, though rape laws in the United States are not uniform, and the laws have changed numerous times, but differences remain in some states.
South Carolina, for example, remains the only state where the force or violence used or threatened must be of a higher level.
A similar law existed in Tennessee until 2005, when it was repealed. The law stated that a person could be guilty of the rape of a spouse at a time they are living together only if that person either "was armed with a weapon or any article used or fashioned in a manner to lead the alleged victim to reasonably believe it to be a weapon" or "caused serious bodily injury to the alleged victim". This meant that, in practice, most cases of marital rape could not be prosecuted, since few rapes involve such extreme circumstances. The law was finally repealed in 2005, allowing for marital rape to be treated like any other type of rape. The bill to repeal the old law was introduced more than ten times before it succeeded.
Until 2013, Washington had an exemption preventing a spouse from being prosecuted with third-degree-rape against the other spouse. Washington removed its exemptions for first-degree rape and second-degree rape in 1983, but the exemption for third-degree rape was removed 30 years later.
Until July 2019, in Minnesota sexual violence occurring between spouses at the time they cohabit or between unmarried partners could be prosecuted only if there was force or threat of thereof, due to exemptions created by Article 609.349 'Voluntary relationships' which stipulated that certain sexual offenses do not apply to spouses, and neither do they apply to unmarried cohabitants. These are offenses that deal with situations where the lack of consent is due to the incapacity of consent of the victim, including where the victim was drugged by the perpetrator. These situations, which were excluded from prosecution, are where the victim was "mentally impaired, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless". The term "mentally incapacitated" is defined as a person who "under the influence of alcohol, a narcotic, anesthetic, or any other substance, administered to that person without the person's agreement, lacks the judgment to give a reasoned consent to sexual contact or sexual penetration".. In 2019, these exemptions were repealed.
A 2003 study found that "twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have abolished marital immunity for sexual offenses twenty-six states retain marital immunity in one form or another".
Since 2003, several states have reformed their laws.

Current status

Some states continue to treat marital and non-marital rape differently:

California

In California, there are separate criminal offenses for rape and for spousal rape.

Connecticut

has a specific crime dealing with forced sex with a spouse and this doesn't apply only to spouses but also to unmarried cohabitants. The law is more narrow than the other sex laws and it has a shorter penalty. It is called Sec. 53a-70b. Sexual assault in spousal or cohabiting relationship and it reads:
No spouse or cohabitor shall compel the other spouse or cohabitor to engage in sexual intercourse by the use of force against such other spouse or cohabitor, or by the threat of the use of force against such other spouse or cohabitor which reasonably causes such other spouse or cohabitor to fear physical injury.

The spousal rape law of Connecticut makes reference to force used or threatened against the "other spouse or cohabitor" while the 'ordinary' sexual assault law deals with force used or threatened against the "other person or against a third person".

Maryland

law states that, if the spouses are living together, a prosecution can take place only if the accused "uses force or threat of force and the act is without the consent of the spouse." If the spouses are separated they are treated as if they were strangers

Michigan

In Michigan, Section 750.520l excludes situations where the criminality comes solely due to the spouse being "mentally incapable, or mentally incapacitated." Section 750.520a Definitions reads: '"Mentally incapacitated" means that a person is rendered temporarily incapable of appraising or controlling his or her conduct due to the influence of a narcotic, anesthetic, or other substance administered to that person without his or her consent, or due to any other act committed upon that person without his or her consent.'

Mississippi

In Mississippi, a person can be convicted of sexual battery of a spouse when they are living together only if he engages in "forcible penetration against the victim's will". This excludes, among others, situations where the victim is "rendered incapable of knowing or controlling his or her conduct, or incapable of resisting an act due to the influence of any drug, narcotic, anesthetic, or other substance administered to that person without his or her consent".

Nevada

law appears to require force or threat of force. Article 200.373 states that: "It is no defense to a charge of sexual assault that the perpetrator was, at the time of the assault, married to the victim, if the assault was committed by force or by the threat of force." This seems to imply that if force or threat of thereof were not used, marriage can be a defense. The general definition of sexual assault uses the wording "against the will of the victim" or "under conditions in which the perpetrator knows or should know that the victim is mentally or physically incapable of resisting or understanding the nature of his or her conduct".

Ohio

In Ohio, a rape that happens in marriage when the spouses are living together can only be charged under subsection A of 2907.02 Rape, which states that: "No person shall engage in sexual conduct with another when the offender purposely compels the other person to submit by force or threat of force." By contrast, a person who is not married to the accused or who is married but living separate and apart can rely on many laws which deal with various forms of coercion. It is notable that subsection A
of 2907.02 Rape that deals with drugging someone "surreptitiously or by force, threat of force, or deception" to coerce them into sex does not apply in marriage. The whole article 2907.03 Sexual battery, that deals with various forms of coercion does not apply at all to married people. In 2015, a bill was introduced to remove these exemptions.

Oklahoma

In Oklahoma, rape by a spouse can only be charged under subsection of Section 1111 - Rape Defined which states:
B. Rape is an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a male or female who is the spouse of the perpetrator if force or violence is used or threatened, accompanied by apparent power of execution to the victim or to another person.

For instance, a person in Oklahoma can not charge her/his spouse for rape if she/he is compelled to submit due to drugs "administered by or with the privity of the accused as a means of forcing the victim to submit", or when she/he is unconscious, as these situations are dealt under subsection of Section 1111 which define rape as intercourse "with a male or female who is not the spouse of the perpetrator ".

Rhode Island

In Rhode Island, Article § 11-37-2 'First degree sexual assault', has four subsections; while subsections 2, 3 and 4 apply to spouses, subsection 1 does not; it reads: "The accused, not being the spouse, knows or has reason to know that the victim is mentally incapacitated, mentally disabled, or physically helpless." This has the result of excluding from prosecution, among other situations, incidents where the victim was drugged by the perpetrator

South Carolina

's statute on "Assault and Criminal Sexual Conduct" lays out distinctively different definitions and penalties between rape by a spouse and by other parties. First and second degree sexual assault carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 and 20 years, respectively, while 10 years is the maximum sentence for marital rape. In order to prosecute, the married victim must report the rape within 30 days, even if they are living separately from their spouse.
South Carolina Code 16-3-615, titled Spousal sexual battery, reads: "Sexual battery, as defined in Section 16-3-651, when accomplished through use of aggravated force, defined as the use or the threat of use of a weapon or the use or threat of use of physical force or physical violence of a high and aggravated nature, by one spouse against the other spouse if they are living together, constitutes the felony of spousal sexual battery and, upon conviction, a person must be imprisoned not more than ten years." This definition does not include all types of force under first degree sexual assault definitions, such as rape combined with felony acts - like forcible confinement, kidnapping, trafficking in persons, or extortion - or cases where the married victim was drugged by their rapist.
In the case of criminal sexual conduct when the victim and perpetrator are married but do not live together as a married couple, first and second degree forms of sexual assault are included in the definition of rape, but not third degree forms. So, for example, drugging and raping a spouse from whom you are separated is against the law, but if they are unable to give consent because of substances they took themselves or were given by a third party, having sex with them isn't legally defined as rape.

Virginia

In Virginia, the main difference lies in punishment. Under certain circumstances, if the victim and the attorney for the Commonwealth agree, the perpetrator can undergo a therapy program, which if completed successfully, replaces any punishment. This can happen if "the court finds such action will promote maintenance of the family unit and be in the best interest of the complaining witness." While the victim has to agree to this option, this can expose the victim to intimidation and threats from the perpetrator, or to social pressure to remain in the relationship.

Marriageable age and age of consent

and forced marriage in the United States have come to increased scrutiny in recent years. Although the general marriage age is 18 in most of the United States, 48 states allow marriage under the age of 18 with parental and/or court consent. Only Delaware and New Jersey have enacted legislation to ban all marriage for minors under the age of 18, without exceptions. Such exceptions can create conflicts between age of consent laws and the marriage age, with most statutory rape laws creating exceptions for minors engaged in a sexual relationship with their lawful spouse - although such minors would otherwise not be able to legally consent to sex.
In Iowa, for example, subsection of article 709.4 Sexual abuse in third degree, excludes sexual acts committed by adults with children as young as 12, provided the parties are "cohabiting as husband and wife".
This does not refer only to legal marriages, but can apply to common law marriage as well. Iowa is also one of 10 states, and the District of Columbia, which recognizes common law marriage, though it does also require, "substantial evidence of a present intent and agreement to be married, continuous cohabitation, and a public declaration that the parties are husband and wife.
In 2012, a man who got his 13-year-old live-in girlfriend pregnant tried to rely on this law. The man, who was of Mexican origin, argued that according to the norms as they exist in his culture, their relationship was “sort of like a trial marriage.” The court rejected this argument, ruling that the exemption could be used only if the couple "objectively cohabited in the status of husband and wife, whether common law or otherwise", not if they merely believed they did.