The notion of marital duty was undermined in 1990, when case law sanctioned marital rape. The victims, however numerous they may be, are not always aware that rape between spouses is punished in the same way as between all other people.

Definition of rape by law

Article 222-23 of the Penal Code defines rape as “any act of sexual penetration, of any kind, committed on the person of another by violence, coercion, threat or surprise”. This is a crime punishable by 15 years in prison.

Marital rape: a progressive recognition

If the law does not mention marital rape in these terms, the judge, in 1990, applies the same sanction.

And the jurisprudence on marital rape does not stop there: in 1992, the courts specify that the presumption of consent of the spouses can be fought to prove this crime. In short: the spouses are presumed consenting to any sexual act, but one of them can prove that he has refused it. Marital rape is then characterized.

More than rape between strangers, rape between spouses is all the more heavily punished as of the law of April 04, 2006 strengthening the prevention and repression of violence within the couple. It is not 15 years but 20 years in prison that the perpetrator now risks.

Rape between spouses difficult to characterize.

In a couple, the intensity of each other’s sexual desire is not necessarily equal. In the majority of diagrams, the sexual appetite is greater in men. The latter may use conviction to achieve his ends, even though the partner would not have consented to the act initially. Some partners may also accept the act only to please the other, without wanting to. Under these conditions, marital rape can be difficult to prove: there is a fine line between the act consented to and the act suffered.

The evidence.

However, some evidence is obvious: any act of violence committed to extort coitus, for example, can prove the absence of consent. The partner who is the source of the violence will sometimes try to downplay the facts or suggest that the violence is part of the couple’s sexual practices. The victim can then collect any useful testimony to defend themselves, and rely on a neighborhood investigation or the criminal’s troubled past, if applicable. Threat and blackmail, but also surprise, can also prove marital rape: case law has admitted that the sexual act committed on the other spouse during his sleep could constitute rape.

In any case, the victim to prove marital rape must identify a bundle of clues likely to highlight his lack of consent, and the fact that the partner committed the act knowingly.

The psychological consequences on the victim.

Rape is a particularly violent crime, which touches on the deepest intimacy of the being. When the act is committed between spouses, the consequences of marital rape can be all the more disastrous. In addition to sexual penetration committed in the absence of consent, there is the betrayal of the partner on the one hand, and the difficulty in proving the existence of the crime on the other.

Psychologists tend to advise the victim not to remain silent: bringing the perpetrator of the marital rape to justice would help the partner to rebuild herself. In this context, the entourage plays a primordial role. Many victims feel ashamed or retain, if not love, some affection for the husband. Relatives can encourage him to talk.

Marital rape: criminal consequences for the perpetrator.

Since the law of 04 April 2006, the rapist is more severely punished when the acts are committed on his life partner – up to 20 years in prison against 15. The law which punishes marital rape does not distinguish the nature of the relationship between partners: cohabiting partners, spouses and PACS partners are covered under the same conditions. In practice, marital rape is difficult to prove, and victims themselves sometimes have difficulty determining whether the act is rape or not.