Perception of marital rape among married women attending psychiatric outpatient department in RIMS, Imphal

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: The definition of rape in Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code includes all forms of sexual assault involving nonconsensual intercourse with a woman. However, Section 375 exempts unwilling sexual intercourse between a husband and a wife over 15 years of age from the definition of “rape” and thus immunizes such acts from prosecution. Marriage is thus considered a continuous, unwavering consent for sexual intercourse as per current laws in the country. This is quite removed from most other countries where marital rape is a recognized crime. India is among only 36 countries that still do not consider marital rape as sexual assault. Literature on marital rape suggests both physical and psychological negative impacts on women facing this predicament. However, marital rape remains one of the most neglected kinds of sexual violence against women, both in society and available literature around the world. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study undertaken in the Department of Psychiatry, rims, Imphal. The study period was for 1 year. Semi-structured pro forma will be used to record patient data. Perception of marital rape will be assessed using an examiner-administered semi-structured pro forma which was first validated using on initial 30 samples under the scrutiny of two experienced researchers in this field. Due consent will be taken and confidentiality assured. Patient data were evaluated using SPSS version 21; Chi-square test and t-test will be used to find correlations between different variables. Results: A total of 129 women participated in the study. The majority of the participants (79%) had an average perception of marital rape, 10% had a high perception of marital rape, whereas 11% had a low perception of marital rape. Only 19 (15%) reported having experienced marital rape themselves. Nearly 98% of the participants agreed that marital rape will have a negative psychological impact on the women who are victims of it. Among the sociodemographic variables, only religion had a meaningful correlation with the perception of marital rape among the participants, where Hindu women were found to have a higher perception compared to the rest. Conclusions: The study aimed to find the perception of marital rape among women attending the psychiatric outpatient department in a tertiary hospital in Imphal, Manipur. The study showed that the majority of the participants had fair knowledge about marital rape and its psychological impact on the women who might be victims of it. However, only a minority of the participants reported facing marital rape themselves.