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User:Carwil/Marital rape laws by country

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Despite these trends and international moves, criminalization has not occurred in all UN member States. Determining the criminal status of marital rape may be challenging, because, while some countries explicitly criminalize the act (by stipulating in their rape laws that marriage is not a defense to a charge of rape; or by creating a specific crime of 'marital rape'; or, otherwise, by having statutory provisions that expressly state that a spouse can be charged with the rape of their other spouse) and other countries explicitly exempt spouses (by defining rape as forced sexual intercourse outside of marriage; or forced sexual intercourse with a woman not the perpetrator's wife; or by providing in their rape provisions that marriage is a defense to a charge of rape), in many countries the ordinary rape laws are silent on the issue (that is, they do not address the issue one way or another)—in such cases, in order to determine whether marital rape is covered by the ordinary rape laws it must be analyzed whether there are judicial decisions in this respect; and former definitions of the law are also important (for instance whether there was previously a statutory exemption that was removed by legislators for the purpose of implicitly including marital rape).

An example of a country where the rape law explicitly excludes a husband as a possible perpetrator is Ethiopia; its rape law states:[1] "Article 620 - Rape: Whoever compels a woman to submit to sexual intercourse outside wedlock, whether by the use of violence or grave intimidation, or after having rendered her unconscious or incapable of resistance, is punishable with rigorous imprisonment from five years to fifteen years". Another example is South Sudan, where the law states: "Sexual intercourse by a married couple is not rape, within the meaning of this section". (Art 247).[2] Conversely, an example of country where the rape law explicitly criminalizes marital rape is Namibia - The Combating of Rape Act (No. 8 of 2000) states that: "No marriage or other relationship shall constitute a defence to a charge of rape under this Act".[3] An example of a jurisdiction where marital rape is a distinct criminal offense is Bhutan where 'Marital rape' is defined by Article 199 which reads: "A defendant shall be guilty of marital rape, if the defendant engages in sexual intercourse with one's own spouse without consent or against the will of the other spouse".[4]

Country Date first
criminalized 		Type of legal act Secondary date Type of legal act Description of criminalization Current status
 Soviet Union 1922 Criminal code (non-explicit) 1960 Criminal law code (explicit) The first criminal law code in Soviet Russia differed from Tsarist law on rape: "although the Tsarist law explicitly excluded marital rape, the Soviet law code of 1922 did not."[5] Marital rape was explicitly included in the 1960 code. Remained criminal through dissolution of Soviet Union.
 Poland 1932 [6] Criminal.[7]
 Czechoslovakia 1950 [6] Remains criminal in the successor states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia[7]
Sweden Sweden 1965 Criminal code (explicit) Under a 1965 revision of the criminal code, spouses who rape could be charged with sexual assault, subject to no more than four years imprisonment; strangers who commit rape were subject to 2 to 10 years imprisonment. As of 1976, this legal change resulted in just four reports to the police and no convictions.[6] Criminal
 Slovenia

(then a republic within Yugoslavia

1977 Criminal code (distinct offense) 1995 Criminal code With the new 1974 Yugoslav Constitution each republic adopted their own Criminal Act, with Socialist Republic of Slovenia introducing rape of wife in its 1977 Criminal Act; (any) rape is not gender specific since 1995 Criminal Code (Art. 180), current Criminal CodMae is from 2008 (Art. 170) Criminal
 Israel 1980 Court decision The Israeli Supreme Court affirmed that marital rape is a crime in a 1980 decision, citing law based on the Talmud.[8][9] Criminal
 Namibia 19 April 2000 Criminal code (explicit) Article 2(3) of the Combating of Rape Act, No. 8 of 2000, states "No marriage or other relationship shall constitute a defence to a charge of rape under this Act."[3] Criminal
 Bhutan 2004 Criminal code (distinct offense) The Bhutan Penal Code of 2004 defines marital rape as a separate offense and a petty misdemeanor in Articles 199 and 200.[4] Rape itself (Art. 177-178) is a fourth degree misdemeanor.[4] Criminal (lesser charge than rape)
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Country Most Recent Date Type of legal act Description of legality Form of legality
  Ethiopia 2004 Criminal code "Article 620 - Rape: Whoever compels a woman to submit to sexual intercourse outside wedlock, whether by the use of violence or grave intimidation, or after having rendered her unconscious or incapable of resistance, is punishabl with rigorous imprisonment from five years to fifteen years"[5] Excluded from rape law
  South Sudan 2009 Criminal code Article 247 of the Penal Code Act, 2008, states "Sexual intercourse by a married couple is not rape, within the meaning of this section."[2] Excluded from rape law
  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2013-12-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ a b "Government of the Republic of South Sudan - Official Portal" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-02-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ a b c "PENAL CODE OF BHUTAN, 2004" (PDF). Unodc.org. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  5. ^ a b Rule, Wilma (1996). Russian women in politics and society. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-313-29363-4.
  6. ^ a b c Elman, R Amy (1996). Sexual subordination and state intervention: comparing Sweden and the United States. Berghahn Books. p. 90. ISBN 1-57181-071-4.
  7. ^ a b Report of the Secretary-General, In-depth study on all forms of violence against women, United Nations, UN Doc A/61/122/Add.1, 6 July 2006. Archived August 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Geis, Gilbert (1977). "Rape-in-marriage: Law and law reform in England, the United States, and Sweden". Adelaide Law Review. 6: 284.
  9. ^ David Kauzlarich, Introduction to Criminology, 2008, p. 79.
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