In India, women campaign to criminalise marital rape

In the reform accompanying Narendra Modi’s re-election for a third term, laws relating to sexual assault were “strengthened” on Monday. But this is not enough for many women’s rights activists.

In India, a new Penal Code came into force on Monday, July 1, 2024. The reform was initiated before the elections that brought Narendra Modi to power for a third term. As part of this reform, the laws relating to sexual assault have been “strengthened”. But Indian women want more protection, including by making marital rape a crime.

In the Indian Penal Code, inherited from the British era, there is an exception clause that states that a man who forces his wife to have sex is not considered a rapist. With the reform, the minimum age at which a man can abuse his wife has been raised from 15 to 18. But the exception clause remains, it is still not considered rape.

The All India Democratic Women’s Association says the clause is akin to colonialism stemming from a Victorian mentality. It has filed an appeal before the Indian Supreme Court. It is important to note that at the time of its independence in 1947, India inherited the British Penal Code, which was in force in the 19th century and was subsequently modernised by its successive Parliaments.

According to a study conducted between 2019 and 2021 on the health of families, nearly a third of married women, aged 18 to 49, have already suffered domestic violence. Most often, these are arranged marriages. The problem is that many cases are not reported to the police due to the stigmatization of complainants. Despite the attacks they are victims of, some women return to live with their husbands because the social pressure is too great.

The Indian government is planning a new Civil Code, which is supposed to modernize practices that are considered archaic. Currently, cohabitation is not well accepted in India and unmarried couples often have difficulty finding housing. The consequences can be much more serious for interfaith marriages or marriages between two people of different castes: family disavowal, ostracization and sometimes honor killings. If a woman from a higher caste wants to marry a man from a lower caste, or vice versa, the woman will in any case be considered the one who has transgressed social norms.

Still, many Indians doubt that the new Civil Code will oppose deeply rooted social practices in society, especially with the re-election of the ultra-nationalist Narendra Modi. In Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India led by a close friend of Modi, a Muslim who marries a Hindu woman risks up to ten years in prison. Everything is being done to prevent conversions to Islam.