A wife has made legal history by successfully suing her husband for damages after he raped her. Husbands have been successfully criminally prosecuted for raping their wives, but lawyers believe that is the first time that a civil action for rape has been won.
Our opposition to the Law Commissions proposals on consent in rape law outlined in the New Law Journal, June 1997.
In the media: investigating officer comments on rape in marriage and police practise and we reply back Inspector Andy Baker strives to make the case that the Met supports victim of rape and tries to refute comments concerning police practise.
New Law Journal: We demand more protection for wives Women against Rape delighted about the Appeal Court ruling however, they emphasise that the fundamental issue is consent.
In the media: Brilliant, says wife as rapist husband gets five years The first husband in England to be found guilty of raping his wife was jailed, as reported in the Daily Mail in March 1991.
Historic ruling as judges say husbands can be guilty of rape The centuries old English legal principle that a man cannot be guilty of raping his wife was finally swept aside in the Court of Appeal, as reported in the Evening Standard, March 1991.
In the media: The Rapist who pays the rent Women Against Rape react to the Law Commission’s recommendation that rape in marriage should be criminalised. New Law Journal outlines the story in November, 1990.
In the media: Legal history was made as a man was jailed for attempting to raping his wife This case breaks new ground in the law of rape – as reported in The Independent, July 1990.
Book launch: The Rapist Who Pays The Rent – women’s case for changing the Law on Rape. This is the handbook of the movement to make rape in marriage a crime. It also describes how rape outside marriage is dealt with by police and courts, who often support and even encourage the rapist, whether he’s …
Parliament considers Rape in Marriage, WAR public meeting “Most people agree that marriage should be an equal relationship. How can there be equality when one partner is legally entitled to rape the other? Instead the law says that in marriage, the man is the boss and the women is his property.”
