Marital rape: Survey takes lid off sexual violence by husbands

New Delhi: Marital rape is the most common form of sexual violence reported by married women in India, according to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 released by the Union health ministry. Ironically, sexual intercourse forced by the husband is yet to be declared a criminal offence in the country.

Among married women (15-49 age) who were victims of sexual violence, over 83% reported their current husband and 9% report a former husband as the perpetrators. “The form of sexual violence most commonly reported by women was that their husband used physical force to have sexual intercourse when they did not want to (5.4%). About 4% reported that their husband forced them with threats or in other ways to perform sexual acts they did not want to, and 3% reported that their husband forced them to perform other sexual acts they did not want to,” said the survey report on the basis of interviews with over 628,900 households.

With sexual rights being a serious concern for Indian women, 6% of women reported having experienced sexual violence in their lifetime. “Sexual violence is most often committed by individuals with whom women have an intimate relationship. Physical violence and sexual violence may not occur in isolation; rather, women may experience a combination of different types of violence,” the survey report said. “Over 22% of women age 15-49 have experienced physical violence only, 1% have experienced sexual violence only, and 5% have experienced both physical and sexual violence,” it said.

India is one of 36 countries where marital rape is still not a criminal offence. Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) considers forced sex in marriage as a crime only when the wife is below age 15.

Marital rape victims have to take recourse to the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 (PWDVA) for relief. The PWDVA, which came into force in 2006, outlaws marital rape; however, it offers only a civil remedy for the offence.

“The authorities need to recognize the fear that women live with on a daily basis, the threat of rape or sexual violence that shadows them in everything that they do. Husbands and wives being out of the purview of rape laws enables men to prey on women in the security of her home. These statistics give a clear indication of the kind of sexual harassment and violence young girls and women face in India,” said Poonam Muttreja, executive director, Population Foundation of India, a nongovernment organization working on policy advocacy and research on population issues.

The scenario for unmarried women (of the same age group) is no different. The survey report highlighted that most common perpetrators of sexual violence on unmarried women were other relatives (27%), followed by a current or former boyfriend (18%), their own friend or acquaintance (17%) and a family friend (11%).

When it came to never-married women, strangers (9%) and teachers (3%) were among other perpetrators of the offence. Women’s experience of sexual violence tends to increase with their age, from 3% among women aged 15-19 to 7% among women aged 30-49. “Widowed, divorced, separated, or deserted women are far more likely than any other women to report having experienced sexual violence,” stated the survey report.