Marital rape is a forced sexual act that takes place without the consent of the spouse. By using religious doctrine and social customs as a cover, men in my country get away with raping their wives and forcing their spouses to engage in sexual acts against their will.
Many married women suffer from marital rape since it is not criminalized in countries across the Middle East. It does simply not matter if what the husband does to his wife goes against her will. The bottom line is that he has the law on his side.
Marital rape is sexual violence. Marital rape is a crime and a blatant violation of the rights of the spouse. Violence against women takes place in many forms in Iraq. Hardly anyone raises the issue of marital rape. Even some defenders of women’s rights here have their reservations about marital rape as it is seen as a legitimate right that is untouchable.
They say that the sexual violence that the wife is subjected to inside her own home is a legitimate right of husband. Lawmakers in the country let this terrible practice continue, a crime that harms women and destroys them psychologically in many cases. Hence, marital rape continues to flourish in impunity here and Iraq´s rape-arriage law even allows a rapist to avoid punishment if his victim consents to marriage.
Many women in Iraq demand an end to this violence against women and the enactment of a law that prohibits marital rape and gives women the freedom to defend themselves against those who try to harm them psychologically, sexually and verbally.
In a marriage, a woman should not be forced to have sex with her husband under the pretext that she agreed to the marriage and therefore has to live under the command of the man.
