Human Rights Quarterly

This book explores the issue of sexual assault in marriage. According to the World Health Organization, one in three women who have been in a relationship report that they faced some form of "sexual and/or physical violence perpetrated by a husband or other male intimate." ¹Despite this alarming number, many countries today do not have the legislation in place to adequately criminalize sexual assault in intimate relationships. ²In fact, for centuries women who were sexually assaulted by their spouses had no legal recourse at all.

The purpose of the book is to offer a contribution to fill the legal and research gap around marital rape and to stimulate an international conversation on this important, but too often overlooked, issue. ³The book also aims to offer a critical perspective on the challenges ahead to end the legal impunity of marital rape, while also highlighting the accomplishments achieved so far. ⁴

The book is divided in two parts. The first part is titled "Marital Rape, Human Rights and the Law: Mapping the Issues." It provides the theoretical and legal context necessary to put the issue of spousal sexual assault into a legal and historical perspective. Part one consists of four chapters. The first chapter is introductory and presents the book and its structure to the reader. Chapter Two, authored by Melanie Randall, addresses marital rape in relation to the wider issue of domestic violence against women. Randall asserts: "Despite advances in the separate spheres of domestic violence and sexual assault, the specific problem of marital rape and sexual violence in intimate relationships remains relatively under the radar both in society and in law." ⁵The author effectively calls for more recognition of how intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) is a central component of domestic violence. ⁶Randall also calls for greater social attention to be devoted to the issue.

An interesting perspective proposed by the author is that rape is often understood to be perpetrated by a stranger, rather than a husband coercing his wife to a sexual intercourse. ⁷Randall adds that "stranger rapes" tend to be perceived as more severe than marital sexual assaults, given the partners' union and past consent to engage in a sexual relationship. ⁸For this reason, the images conjured up by domestic violence tend to be centered on physical assault, threats [End Page 540]and mental abuse, rather than on sexual violence. ⁹Randall skillfully backs up her argument with surveys that show how, at a community level, people tend not to perceive IPSV as domestic violence. ¹⁰Randall denounces how this separation has implications on the effectiveness of a legal response in that all the focus is on domestic violence and none on IPSV, making the latter a de factoinvisible crime. ¹¹The consequences are multifold. First, if marital sexual violence is not perceived as amounting to an assault, it ends up being under-reported and even undetected. ¹²Then, if there is no criminalization of marital rape, the victims are left with no tools to find help and to counteract the long-lasting and negative physical and mental effects of IPSV. Randall brings to light how often IPSV results in consequences that are even more severe than those registered amongst victims of assaults committed by strangers. This is because IPSV victims have to face a sense of betrayal as the damage comes from a trusted loved one—someone that should protect and respect them. ¹³Randall goes on to address effects that are insufficiently appreciated, such as the phenomenon of revictimization, which is defined as the heightened likelihood for women who were victims of sexual abuse as children to be victims of IPSV later in life as well. ¹⁴

A thought-provoking aspect of Randall's analysis is the influence of social norms and gender expectations in women...