海角大神

In Mumbai鈥檚 informal settlement of Dharavi, women know they can turn to Amina. As a volunteer with the Society for Nutrition, Education and Health Action (SNEHA), a nonprofit that works on issues of women鈥檚 health and safety, she鈥檚 always out and about, checking in with women in her neighborhood and supporting those facing violence at home. She urges them to call the police help line or visit the crisis center, but as a survivor herself, she understands why many don鈥檛.

For almost 20 years, Amina 鈥� whose name has been changed to protect her identity 鈥� faced relentless abuse from her husband. He controlled her movements and finances. If she were even 10 minutes late dropping their children off at school, she was beaten and locked outside their home. Her neighbors knew about some of the abuse, but what they couldn鈥檛 know, she says, was that 鈥渉e forced himself on鈥� her as well. At the time, Amina didn鈥檛 even understand that this was rape. 鈥淚 always felt like what was happening to me was wrong, but then I鈥檇 think, he鈥檚 my husband,鈥� Amina says about the sexual violence. 鈥淓ven today, things are the same way. Women can鈥檛 easily open up about it.鈥�

One in 3 Indian women between the ages of 18 and 59 say they鈥檝e experienced some form of spousal violence, according to , and Indian women are 17 times more likely to experience sexual violence from their own husband than anyone else. Yet India remains one of the few democratic countries that doesn鈥檛 consider nonconsensual sex within marriage to be rape.聽

A two-judge bench of the Delhi high court is currently mulling over petitions to strike down the marital rape exception. But many, including government representatives, argue that expanding the definition of rape is antithetical to the institution of marriage in India. It is this view, petitioners and experts say, that shrouds the issue in shame and keeps women from seeking support.聽

鈥淲e have seen that the husband uses sexual violence as a means to exert power over his wife,鈥� says Mariam Dhawale, general secretary of All India Democratic Women鈥檚 Association, one of the petitioners. She attributes this behavior to a 鈥減atriarchal thinking that once a woman is married, she has no agency, she has no right to refuse her husband.鈥�

Judgment was reserved in late February, and a verdict is expected any day. Yet no matter what the court decides, advocates say the road to justice will be long.聽

Legal and cultural battles

In India, the push to criminalize marital rape goes back . In 1983, following the rise of a women鈥檚 movement set on tackling India鈥檚 complacency toward sexual violence, lawmakers amended India鈥檚 rape laws for the first time in 100 years. Victories included amendments acknowledging custodial rape and rape by authority figures, and new measures to protect survivors鈥� identities. India also established a section of law against cruelty by husbands and husband鈥檚 relatives, including dowry-related harassment. But they weren鈥檛 able to close the marital rape loophole.聽

In 2013, following the brutal rape of a young woman in the capital, New Delhi, a committee instituted by the government to reassess sexual assault laws recommended the marital rape exception be removed. Yet Indian parliamentarians did not act on the recommendation.

鈥淗ow can an offense not be an offense only because the perpetrator is different?鈥� asks Saumya Uma, law professor and director of the Centre for Women鈥檚 Rights at Jindal Global Law School, via email. 鈥淚n the face of fundamental right to life, dignity, privacy, and equality, the marital rape exemption is bad in law and must go.鈥澛�

The case currently before the high court dates back to 2015, and in a 2017 affidavit, the government strongly opposed the petitions, stating that 鈥渨hat may appear to be marital rape to an individual wife may not appear so to others.鈥� It also held that removing the exception 鈥渕ay destabilize the institution of marriage鈥� and would offer women 鈥渁n easy tool for harassing the husbands.鈥�

Hearings held earlier this year caused an uproar among self-described men鈥檚 rights activists, who for a marriage strike on Twitter. They also echoed the government鈥檚 concerns about wives filing false cases, fears that 聽match the reality on the ground.聽

In fact, both data and experts highlight that most cases of domestic violence, especially sexual abuse, go unreported.聽

This is in part due to powerful cultural norms about women鈥檚 role within families. At their wedding, many women are told to maintain the family鈥檚 pride and conceal its shame, says Renu Mishra, executive director of the Lucknow-based nonprofit Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives Trust. In India, where of women are part of the labor force and an even smaller percentage own land or property, lack of economic independence also plays a huge role in married women not reporting sexual violence, she adds. Ms. Mishra says she has seen firsthand that most laws meant to prevent gender-based violence are seldom effectively implemented because the society and justice system continue to be patriarchal.聽

Those who do report domestic violence are likely to encounter apathy from police or harassment from their husband or family members, says Nayreen Daruwalla, program director of prevention of violence against women and children at SNEHA. 鈥淭he change has to be systemic,鈥� she says.

Path forward

In the face of rape and violence, Indian wives have few options. In a country with a , most women feel unable to walk out of an abusive marriage. In 2016, of global female deaths by suicide were Indian women, with married women making up the largest proportion.

In Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh, Usha Agrawal, a聽caseworker for Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives Trust, has counseled many women dealing with domestic abuse. She says the violence often starts with wives refusing to fulfill husbands鈥� demands in the bedroom, and even after years of abuse, many feel they鈥檇 have nowhere to turn if they filed a complaint. 鈥淭hey struggle to arrive at a decision quickly, and end up bearing this kind of violence and torture every day,鈥� she says.聽

This is what happened with Amina, who today regrets not walking away from her marriage earlier or seeing her legal case through. She lives alone with her children now. 鈥淕enerations are passing by; so many years have been lost. But women are still facing the same difficulties,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he afflicted are still afflicted.鈥�

The path forward requires vast social, cultural, and legal change, but there is reason for hope, experts say. Despite barriers, data shows that some women do report violence at home 鈥� nationally, about 30% of the categorized as crime against women in 2020 were registered under 鈥渃ruelty by husband or his relatives.鈥澛犅�

That鈥檚 at least in part due to advocates like Ms. Agrawal and Amina offering women the language and resources to confront what鈥檚 happening to them. Moving forward, experts say, India must acknowledge that all women are entitled to full bodily autonomy 鈥� regardless of their marital status 鈥� and they agree that striking out the marital rape exception would be a step in the right direction.

鈥淚t opens up a door for women to ask for justice,鈥� says Ms. Dhawale of the All India Democratic Women鈥檚 Association.聽