Guest Post by MADHU MEHRA
I will critically discuss the campaign for (full) criminalisation of marital rape to call attention to ways by which this campaign reduces a potentially tranformatory agenda on gender, sexuality and marriage, to one of law, crime and punishment. There is no denying that there is widespread sexual and other forms of intimate partner violence against women within marriage (including marital rape), and the absolute necessity of criminalizing such violence. Yet, the campaign for criminalsing marital rape is troubling – in terms of the aspects it selectively probelematises as harmful to women and aspects relating to sexuality and marriage that it is completely silent on. It is also problematic for privileging the criminal law remedies, over non-punitive interventions which require a broader engagement with concerns related to marriage and sexuality that are equally hurtful to women.
Let us first summarise the legal position on marital rape. Continue reading Reflections On The Limitations Of The Call For Full Criminalisation Of Marital Rape: Madhu Mehra