Abstract

Marital rape is a particularly heinous form of sexual violence that occurs within intimate relationships. However, throughout much of the world, the marriage contract affords legal immunity to marital partners who would otherwise be convicted as sexual offenders. By reviewing the laws of the Commonwealth jurisdictions, this research highlights the necessity for reform in many jurisdictions that continue to allow for marital exemptions to sexual offending. This review identified three main forms of marital exemption, that is the general marital exemption to the primary sexual offence, the creation of spousal-specific sexual offences, and the use of marital exemptions to remove or reduce liability for sexual offences involving minors. The operation of these marital exemptions is then considered in the context of international human rights law and its prohibition on sexual violence within intimate relationships. An analysis of the jurisprudence surrounding Article 2 of CEDAW, Article 19 of the CRC and the prohibition of torture informs the argument that international human rights law requires the prohibition of marital exemptions to sexual offending throughout the Commonwealth nations. Marital exemptions continue to afford sexual offending with impunity across many Commonwealth jurisdictions in breach of the international human rights obligations of those nations and reform should occur in order to uphold the rights of sexual violence survivors.

中文翻译：

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婚姻：摆脱免费监狱卡？

摘要

婚内强奸是发生在亲密关系中的一种特别令人发指的性暴力形式。但是，在世界许多地方，婚姻合同对婚姻伴侣提供法律豁免，否则他们将被定为性犯罪者。通过回顾英联邦辖区的法律，这项研究强调了许多司法管辖区进行改革的必要性，这些司法管辖区继续允许婚姻免于性犯罪。这项审查确定了三种主要的婚姻豁免形式，即对主要性犯罪的一般婚姻豁免，对配偶的性犯罪的创设以及对婚姻中涉及未成年人的性犯罪的免除责任的使用。然后，在国际人权法及其在亲密关系中禁止性暴力的背景下，考虑这些婚姻豁免的实施。对围绕《消除对妇女一切形式歧视公约》第二条，《儿童权利公约》第十九条和禁止酷刑的判例进行分析后得出的论点是，国际人权法要求在整个英联邦国家禁止对性犯罪实行婚姻豁免。婚姻豁免继续在许多英联邦辖区造成不加惩罚的性犯罪，违反了这些国家的国际人权义务，应当进行改革以维护性暴力幸存者的权利。《儿童权利公约》第19条和禁止酷刑的论点表明，国际人权法要求在整个英联邦国家禁止对性犯罪实行婚姻豁免。婚姻豁免继续在许多英联邦辖区造成不加惩罚的性犯罪，违反了这些国家的国际人权义务，应当进行改革以维护性暴力幸存者的权利。《儿童权利公约》第19条和禁止酷刑的论点表明，国际人权法要求在整个英联邦国家禁止对性犯罪实行婚姻豁免。婚姻豁免继续在许多英联邦辖区造成不加惩罚的性犯罪，违反了这些国家的国际人权义务，应当进行改革以维护性暴力幸存者的权利。