363
submitted 1 month ago by MicroWave@lemm.ee to c/world@lemmy.world

Criminalizing marital rape would be “excessively harsh,” the Indian government has said, in a blow to campaigners ahead of a long-awaited Supreme Court decision that will affect hundreds of millions of people in India for generations.

In India, it is not considered rape if a man forces sex or sexual acts on his wife, as long as she is over 18, due to an exception in a British colonial-era law.

Most Western and common law jurisdictions have long since rectified this – Britain outlawed marital rape in 1991, for example, and it is illegal in all 50 US states.

But across the world, about 40 countries do not have legislation that addresses the issue of marital rape – and among those that do, the penalties for non-consensual sex within marriage are “significantly lower” than other rape cases, according to the United Nations Population Fund’s 2021 State of World Population review.

top 20 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] asciimage@sh.itjust.works 75 points 1 month ago

I fucking hate this so much. For context, I'm an Indian, living in India. I can't believe people here value these archaic "customs" so much that they can go on record downplaying rape to protect the "institution of marriage".

Fuck all of em and fuck their customs. Worst part is that I found out about this because of western media. Maybe the local media did cover it, I should start reading more...

[-] recursive_recursion@lemmy.ca 21 points 1 month ago

Worst part is that I found out about this because of western media. Maybe the local media did cover it, I should start reading more...

The best thing we can do is cover each other's back by holding each other responsible✊

By calling out (reporting) the attrocities in all nations (instances) it's easier to isolate bad actors and clean up our environment🌻

[-] ValiantDust@feddit.org 41 points 1 month ago

In Germany marital rape is punished in the same way as any other rape since 1997 (which to me always seemed horrifically late). But one of the guys who voted against it is his party's candidate for the post of Chancellor in the election next year.

Maybe we are not as far beyond these misogynistic worldviews as we like to believe.

[-] emax_gomax@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

Friendly reminder MLK was killed in 1968. One year before the moonlanding. I always thought open and legal racial segregation was a century or more ago. It hasn't even been 100 years since the holocaust and bloody nazis are popular again. Wtf.

[-] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca -2 points 1 month ago

moonlanding

That's two words, and your cohort is showing.

[-] barsoap@lemm.ee 6 points 1 month ago

It was still punishable as coercion. Corporal punishment (i.e. what you'd do to coerce) of wives was outlawed in the early 1800s (and somehow only on the books since the late 1700s), it stuck around quite a bit longer for serfs, for underage apprentices and I think at schools it stuck around until 1956, your own children until 2000.

There's much more to it than misogyny it was a culture of coercion in general.

[-] recursive_recursion@lemmy.ca 36 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yeessh

still one of the worst places to be especially if you identify as a woman it seems

[-] rippersnapper@lemm.ee 2 points 1 month ago

One of my Indian friends said she felt invisible when visiting France. Apparently being stared at just for being a woman is common in India.

[-] Ginja@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago

I would never set foot in India.

[-] hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 points 1 month ago

"excessively harsh" against who?

[-] barsoap@lemm.ee 8 points 1 month ago
[-] WhatThaFudge 2 points 1 month ago

That was.. fucking awesome!

[-] eodur@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Thank you for that! Wicked

[-] Noodle07@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago
[-] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago

.. only for up to half the population.

Up to.

And apparently the half that matters. :-(

[-] EdanGrey@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

Who gives a fuck about the women eh

[-] 5in1k@lemm.ee 3 points 1 month ago
[-] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 month ago

The best thing we can do is cover each other’s back by holding each other responsible✊

That's an excellent way to say that. We can be our sibling's keeper.

[-] arbitrary_sarcasm@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Now I fully agree that marital rape should definitely have the same repercussions as rape. However, the summary posted made me think initially that there was no protection for women against domestic violence in India at all.

After some googling, I found some more context

“It is submitted that the act colloquially referred to as ‘marital rape’ ought to be illegal and criminalised. The Central Government asserts that a woman’s consent is not obliterated by marriage, and its violation should result in penal consequences. However, the consequences of such violations within marriage differ from those outside it. Parliament has provided different remedies, including criminal law provisions, to protect consent within marriage. Sections 354, 354A, 354B, 498A IPC, and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, ensure serious penal consequences for such violations,”

Tl;dr marital rape is illegal and can be prosecuted. But somehow the court thinks that the act of marriage changes the situation.

this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2024
363 points (98.7% liked)

World News

39174 readers
2050 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS