Marital Rape

New research and directions

Published by: National Online Resources Center on Violence Against Women, 2006
By: Raquel Kennedy Begen, Elizabeth Barnhill
Via: ResourceShelf's DocuTicker

Despite the fact that marital rape receives little public and scholarly attention, it is one of the most serious forms of violence between intimates. The research to date indicates that women who are raped by their husbands are likely to experience multiple assaults and often suffer severe long-term physical and emotional consequences. Given the serious effects, there is clearly a need for those who come into contact with marital rape survivors to provide assistance and challenge the prevailing myth that rape by one’s spouse is inconsequential.

Rape crisis counselors and advocates for battered women are in particularly important leadership positions to call attention to the problem of marital rape in society and to assist survivors of this form of violence. It is essential that those who work with men who rape and abuse speak out against this form of violence against women and challenge men’s sense of entitlement to have sex with their partners.