The Judiciarys Law Journal

The Judiciarys Law Journal

Reasons for Not Reporting Marital Rape

Document Type : Research/Original/Regular Article

Authors
1 tarbiat modares university / faculty of law
2 Faculty of Law, Tarbiat Modares University
10.22106/jlj.2024.2026524.5883
Abstract
Domestic Violence is often defined as a pattern of behavior to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, psychological, but one of the most prevalent forms of domestic violence against women is sexual abuse in marriage; However, its reporting rate is very low compared to other forms of domestic violence. This research seeks to answer the following question: "Why do not victims of marital rape report their victimization to criminal justice system or why do they report it only years after suffering abuse?". To answer this question, in addition to library resources, in-depth and semi-structured interviews with 45 victims of marital rape, 15 attorneys at law, 20 judges and 13 family Health specialists were used for data collection. The findings revealed that a victim often does not report marital rape under the influence of some factors such as shame, fear of enacted stigma, dread of her husband's revenge, insensitivity of criminal justice to domestic violence, and most importantly not to perceive herself as a victim of sexual violence. The silence of victims causes their husbands to repeat the violence. Therefore, it seems that the reduction of marital rape, in addition to creating awareness among women about their right to freedom from violence and raising awareness about correct way to sex, requires protective legislation for victims and the development of special training programs for police and judges.
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Volume 88, Issue 128
Spring 2025
Pages 301-337

  • Receive Date 16 April 2024
  • Revise Date 18 October 2024
  • Accept Date 11 August 2024
  • First Publish Date 19 February 2025
  • Publish Date 19 February 2025