Imagine this scenario for me ladies. You are lying in the bed with your husband and he suddenly decides that he wants to have sex with you. However, you are not in the mood. He persists. You decline. He continues to persist. You continue to decline. Things take a dark shift when his persistence becomes more aggressive than you would like and you feel him forcing himself on you. Before you know it, he is inside of you and you are having sex despite the fact that you have repeatedly told him no and you also have even tried to put up a physical fight. He finishes and you think to yourself that you have become a victim of rape. You try to report it to the authorities and they insist that you could not have gotten raped. You are married silly woman.It may sound unbelievable to some but this scene is one that has become a reality for women around the world who have cried rape after having unwanted sex with their husbands. Believe it or not, despite the laws that are set in place to protect victims, regardless of their gender; incidents like this still occur. Yes, years after women’s liberation and the feminist uproar there are still individuals who see women as less than a person and more so as “things” or “objects” for which to be had at their disclosure.
As abhorrent as it may sound, the argument over whether or not a woman maintains her right to express the word “no” to her husband when it comes to sex is still up for discussion and disagreement. Recently a leading Muslim cleric has sparked controversy in Britain by claiming that it is impossible for men to rape their wives.
Sheikh Maulana Abu Sayeed, who is president of the Islamic Sharia Council, told a website that “sex is part of marriage” and suggested that husbands who commit such acts should not be prosecuted. “Clearly there cannot be any rape within the marriage,” he told The Samosa website. “Maybe aggression, maybe indecent activity… Because when they got married, the understanding was that sexual intercourse was part of the marriage, so there cannot be anything against sex in marriage. Of course, if it happened without her desire, that is no good, that is not desirable.” Sayeed runs Britain’s largest network of Islamic sharia courts, The Independent reported. Rape within marriage has been illegal in Britain since 1991.
Before you read this and jump to the conclusion that this is a race or religion issue and that men from other backgrounds would not agree with this, you would be wrong. This man is not alone in his opinions. It is a strong possibility that more men of various backgrounds can relate to this ideology than you might want to think. The reason being actually has less to do with what deity a person worships and more to do with what morals and values they subscribe to.
There are men who view marriage more like an ownership rather than a partnership. Once they become married to their partner she belongs to them. This means that she belongs to them in every way, mentally, physically and of course sexually. While I do believe that a wife should uphold herself to keeping her husband satisfied sexually; just as the husband should do the same for her; I don’t believe that this devotion should strip one of their right to choose. I say that to say that marriage should not deprive her of her own voice, opinions, wants, desires, or thoughts. Her body and mind still very much belong to her.
This is why I find the defense and lack of legal recourse for this act morally void and the fact that there are people in authority who will defend this act disturbing.
How much weight does the old adage of your mind, body and spirit belonging to your partner truly go? Where do we draw the lines of person-hood? People express this pledge to one another during their marriage vows but the act of personal choice should always exist for both parties. Again, although I am a strong believer in pleasing your partner and feel that keeping them happy is a part of your duties in a marriage however that duty should not take away from a person’s ability to make personal choices in regards to their body. Any time an individual’s person-hood becomes in jeopardy; where they are viewed as inanimate objects that have no authority over their body, we all should worry. Regardless of gender. Should your person-hood ever mean more than pleasing your partner? In a marriage it the responsibility of both partners to please the other so where do we draw the lines?
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My name is Anisha Achankunju and I write under the pen name Aiyanna.
ReplyDeleteRape within a marriage in New Zealand is considered to be part and parcel of Domestic Violence but it can only be looked into if the woman who is a victim of the same complains against it and it is proven by medical examination.
It is similar to the law where kids are allowed to divorce their parents and find suitable one who can take care of themselves.