Re: When is rape not rape?
This is like saying: There is no such thing as ‘marital abuse.’ This is a myth. Marital is a word used to describe a marriage binding with a sense of respect. The other is a crime.
Diwana, I think it’s clear that whenever people use the term ‘marital rape’, they are referring to an ACT or CONCEPT of forceful intercourse aka rape which happens between two people who are married to each other. Marital simply means ‘of or related to marriage’. It is a neutral word. The word itself does not imply anything like ‘respect, sense of commitment.’ You are reducing it to semantics now when you yourself have said that if there is force and lack of consent, then it is rape, marriage or no marriage.
The term marital rape MAY be an oxymoron (if you, personally, would like to think that ‘marital’ automatically implies a harmonious, respectful binding) but calling it a myth is certainly not logical because it does happen.
So, do we agree on this: A husband can rape his wife.
?
?