the essential element in this matter is consent. consent is mandatory even in the smallest things. While we are talking about a serious issue like getting sexually involved, we need to be sure of serious stuff like consent because I think you need to understand and accept individual decisions of their agreement over getting ready to be sexually involved with a person. you can't force someone to put feelings even if you are the spouse. people should have their individuality even after entering any new relationship and their smallest decisions and choices should matter.
this basic understanding of letting your spouse have their individuality was and is still misunderstood by a lot of couples around the world. it has always been like after marrying they think that they gain dominance over their wives and so can do anything anytime, at this moment they forget that their wives have their individuality and their choices even after tying a bond
Indian Penal Code 1980 does talk about sexual violence but marital rape doesn't not come under IPC. Marital rape is not considered a crime in India, it is an act of violence but still, the decision awaits whether to criminalize it or not. It is an exceptional case under the IPC section of 1980. This exception clause violates women’s fundamental right to equality, freedom of speech and expression, and most of all the right to life and personal liberty.
It also denies the agency over their bodies to women.
The Supreme Court of India will decide if the exception to the crime of rape if it is committed by a man against his wife, is unconstitutional. This exception is popularly known as the marital rape exception. Whoever has sexual intercourse with his wife, who is living separately, whether under a decree of separation or otherwise, without her consent, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than two years but which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine?
The reluctance to define non-consensual sex between married couples as a crime and to prosecute has been attributed to traditional views of marriage, interpretations of religious doctrines, ideas about male and female sexuality, and cultural expectations of subordination of a wife to her husband — views which continue to be common in many parts of the world.
Under the impact of the second wave of feminism in the seventies, Australia became the first common law country to pass reforms in 1976 and after it, many Scandinavian and European countries made rape in marriage a criminal offense.
These views of marriage and sexuality started to be challenged in most Western countries leading to an acknowledgment of the woman's right to self-determination of all matters relating to her body, and the withdrawal of the exemption or defense of marital rape.
Marital rape is more widely experienced by women, though not exclusively. Marital rape is often a chronic form of violence for the victim which takes place within abusive relations. It exists in a complex web of state governments, cultural practices, and societal ideologies that combine to influence each distinct instance and situation in varying ways.
