The arguments against a law criminalizing marital rape often betray the lack of understanding of what a marriage is. “The exaggerated possibility of misuse cannot take away from the real crime and injustice faced by lakhs of married women in the country." According to the National Family Health Survey-III, one in 10 women in India have faced spousal sexual violence, including marital rape, at least once in their lifetime, Ragamalika points out. According to the UN Population Fund, two-thirds of married women in India in the 15-49 age-group have been beaten, raped or forced to provide sex by their husbands. Marital rape itself is a reality we cannot ignore. And that should also be a reason to work towards better implementation, so that not only do we reduce the number of false cases, but more importantly, we do not fail the real victims, and let the real rapists walk free," says Ragamalika Karthikeyan, Programme Officer, Prajanya Trust. No one is denying that there might be some false cases. “Yes, but the truth is that the number of false cases is highly exaggerated. Sudha Ramalingam says that in a country where perjury and contempt of court are not taken seriously, false allegations fly thick and fast, “We have to bear that in mind too.” That a law against marital rape would be misused is based on an overwhelming feeling that vengeful wives are waiting for an opportunity to send their husbands to jail. However, it is important to address them for legal clarity.
The first two points meanwhile stem mainly from a culture of prejudice and discrimination against women. It does not address the question of criminal violence, and does not provide justice to a victim of rape.īesides, this also raises the question, if marital rape can lead to civil prosecution, why not criminal? The last one is easy to answer: the DV Act is a civil law, and only provides for protection and monetary compensation to the victim. Three main points are being raised: One, wouldn’t the law be put to rampant misuse by vengeful estranged wives? Two, how can one prove in a court of law that the intercourse between the wife and husband was indeed forced? And three, why do we need a law against marital rape when the Domestic Violence Act includes sexual abuse? But beyond their arguments against a marital rape law based on ideas of culture, family and customs which are aimed to placate the far-right sections of the ruling dispensation, some seemingly genuine issues with the enactment of the law are being pointed out. Recently, ministers of NDA received much flak for making statements justifying not having a marital rape law. But even she agrees that in such cases the husband-rapist goes scot-free due to the social contract. Sudha Ramalingam is lawyer who has represented both wives and husbands in nasty divorces or domestic violence cases and is not entirely in favour of a law criminalizing marital rape. “The family even told me that they thought it was OK, and that it might lead to the couple getting back together,” recounts Sudha, “and there are so many such cases that I get. Her family was in the house, but did not stop him. Days after she left, her husband walked into her maternal home, entered her room, and forced himself on her. She had recently left her husband’s home to live with her mother, but there was no judicial separation. It’s so absolutely refreshing.A couple of years ago, Chennai-based activist and lawyer Sudha Ramalingam was approached by a battered woman. I love your attention to detail and your high standards. He had the idea of running an environmentally friendly letterpress and Risograph print shop and set up his studio on Broadway in Newburgh and has been in love with the small city ever since. One visit to Newburgh mesmerized him and the perfect pair of vintage German Heidelberg letterpress machines miraculously found their way to him and his old love for traditional printing became fresh again. Eventually, the city was too chaotic for the life he wanted to pursue and he stumbled across the City of Newburgh in an article, while being on vacation. Markus moved to New York City in 2003 where he became one of the better known modern street photographers, while still working in the graphic design and prepress trade. After over a decade of fast paced printing he grew restless, and he eventually closed shop. Times were changing and new desktop publishing technology reshaped the craft of printmaking forever, and Markus found a way to capitalize on this new wave of technology – he soon opened his own commercial prepress and print shop in 1994. His creative itch matched his love for mechanics when he started a typesetting apprenticeship in an old school letterpress print shop in 1987. Markus Hartel was born in a small industrial town in western Germany.
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