Philosophy Discussion Forums | A Humans-Only Club for Open-Minded Discussion & Debate

[Great23]

Well, I maintain that there is no such thing as legal rape in cases which the marriage was based on consensus of the two parties involved. It can only be be considered rape if from the onset, the marriage was forced.

[Mo_reese]

Here is my two cents. Rape by definition is not consensual. I believe that it's aggravated assault and is immoral and should be illegal if it isn't. At least in the West, marriage vows don't permit men to rape their wives.

[Seetha E]

Rape is non-consensual - when a person says NO, it means NO ....in a relationship legally or not.
There is no other meaning to that word.

This is a very sensitive subject that sadly is taken for granted in many cultures.

[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

Hi, Mo_reese,

Thank you for your reply.

At least in the West, marriage vows don't permit men to rape their wives.

As of 2024, that is technically correct. The key word being technically.

However, until 1993 (only 30 years ago), it was legal for men to rape their wives in at least some states in the USA.

There's many women in the USA today who were born in the USA lived their whole lives in the USA and were legally raped by their husbands in the USA.


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes

[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

Well, I maintain that there is no such thing as legal rape in cases which the marriage was based on consensus of the two parties involved. It can only be be considered rape if from the onset, the marriage was forced.

So, according to you, no matter how much the victim screams "no" and cries and begs her husband to not do it and to stop, and no matter how much pain it causes her, and no matter how much she bleeds, she wasn't raped and it was consensual, just because the man happens to be her husband?

What if she is filling out divorce paperwork to file for divorce in court, and as is she filling out the paperwork, he does it to her as punishment for wanting to divorce him? He slaps the pen out of her hand and holds her down and has sex with her as she screams no and does her best to get away and cries and begs him to stop. According to you, Great23, that's not rape? According to you, that is consensual sex?


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott

[Mo_reese]

However, until 1993 (only 30 years ago), it was legal for men to rape their wives in at least some states in the USA.

And hello to you.
Couldn't women file assault charges or did the courts allow any and all the assaults that accompanied the rapes?

[Leona Rodrigues]

Rape is a crime and how can a crime be consensual? Having sex is not the sole reason to be married and if one of the married person is not willing to do it then a no is a no and one should respect his/her partner's feeling.

[Mo_reese]

Rape is a crime and how can a crime be consensual? Having sex is not the sole reason to be married and if one of the married person is not willing to do it then a no is a no and one should respect his/her partner's feeling.

I agree with you. I think the question is whether or not a woman getting married automatically consents to sex whenever her husband wants. If so, then it would not be rape. However, I don't believe there is anything in the vows or elsewhere saying that a woman gives up her right to deny sex whenever she wants because she is married.

[Gertie]

Eckhart Aurelius Hughes

In any case, I ask all posting here to state clearly for the record:

Do you agree with me that so-called "legal marital rape" is indeed actually rape (i.e. non-consensual)?

Or do you somehow believe that so-called "legal marital rape" is somehow consensual and thus not really rape?

''Rape'' is non-consensual sexual acts by definition,  those who claim non-consensual  sex within marriage is consensual are misusing the definition or are using  a different definition. 

This is a trivial matter of agreeing definitions. 


The importance of the issue to people involved lies in whether the rapist believes they are legally or morally permitted to rape their spouse.  Which can be by dint of religious belief,  patriarchal notions of ownership, or believing marriage involves consent to all sexual demands from the spouse for some other wacky reason. If such beliefs are enshrined in law, then yes ''rape'' defined as non-consensual sex can be legal.

[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

However, until 1993 (only 30 years ago), it was legal for men to rape their wives in at least some states in the USA.

And hello to you.
Couldn't women file assault charges or did the courts allow any and all the assaults that accompanied the rapes?

Generally, no, especially if the rapist didn't leave any bruises when he legally raped his wife.

Deepening on the state and the year, even if he left bruises, the answer would sill often be no.

Just as marital rape has been and still is legal in most jurisdictions throughout the world, so too is typically legal for men to beat up their wives.

By definition, governments, their laws, and their police/agents work for the ruling class (i.e. the oppressors), not the oppressed.

We might just as well as ask, "during racial slavery, couldn't black people report their slavemasters to the police for assault?", or "during Nazi Germany, couldn't the Jewish victims just report Hitler to the police?"


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott

[Eckhart Aurelius Hughes]

Rape is a crime

False. Marital rape is legal is most countries.

and how can a crime be consensual?

Most crimes are consensual crimes. For example, in most places, it is a crime for two consenting adults to have consensual gay sex in the privacy of their own home.

Please see:

Macro-Criminalization of Consensual Crimes

94% of arrests in the USA are for non-violent crimes. Only 6% are for alleged violent crimes.

Friends, I ask you to oppose ALL non-consensual non-defensive violence, even when it's legal or done by your government.


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes
a.k.a. Scott