Recently, the Speaker of the House Alix Boyd-Knights – a leading advocate for women against domestic violence – made another strong call for legislation to allow a husband to be charged for rape against his wife.
The speaker is of the view that if a man has sex with his wife without her consent it should be considered rape. She is appalled that we still have laws in practice which allow a woman to be referred and treated as a “chattel” or mere property of her husband.
It is really encouraging to hear our speaker asking for legislation to ban marital rape and to hold husbands responsible. Her assertions are true and powerful. According to a 2006 United Nations report, marital rape is already a crime in over 110 countries, including Caribbean countries such as Barbados, Jamaica Trinidad & Tobago and the Bahamas.
In the absence of data on the issue of marital rape, we are skeptical about how serious this may be in our country, but given the fact that the speaker works with abused women, she may very well be saying that this is indeed a problem in Dominica. It may also be possible that she is simply disturbed by this piece of legislation which is genuinely archaic.
What is marital rape? Essentially, marital rape can be defined as any unwanted intercourse or penetration (vaginal, anal, or oral) obtained by force, threat of force, by the husband or when the wife is unable or unwilling to consent.
The legal arguments which would have supported the belief and practice that a wife cannot be raped stemmed from both religious and cultural practices. The Hale Doctrine and the Unities Theory were the first documented legal statement regarding marital rape. At this time, Sir Matthew Hale, who was a chief justice in England, published the following in the History of the Pleas of the Crown (Hale, 1736): “But the husband cannot be guilty of a rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto her husband, which she cannot retract”.
This statement became known as the Lord Hale Doctrine and represented a common-law marital rape exemption, under which husbands could not be accused of committing the crime of rape against their wives. Instead of basing his doctrine on legal argument, however, Lord Hale relied solely on the theory of irrevocable consent which simply means that a wife cannot say no to her husband’s request.
The marital rape exemption gained further support by the middle of the 18th century by what is referred to as the unities theory, which viewed the husband and wife as becoming one upon marriage. According to this theory, women lost their own civil identities in marriage, and they were subsequently viewed as their husbands’ property. In Blackstone’s Commentary on the Laws of England (1765), he wrote, “Husband and wife is legally one person. The legal existence of the wife is suspended during marriage, incorporated into that of the husband. . . . If a wife is injured, she cannot take action without her husband’s concurrence.”
During the same period, rape was considered a crime against another man’s property rather than a violation against a woman’s body and personal integrity. As a result, common law dictated that it was impossible for husbands to steal (i.e., rape) their own property (i.e., wives) thus, marital rape was considered a legal impossibility.
As the tide of social reform and post modernism swept the “west” in the mid-20th century, and as women gained more rights, rape within marriage became widely publicized. This led to many countries such as the United State in the 1970’s to change their laws to acknowledge the existence of rape in marriage; since then there have been subsequent successful prosecutions of marital rape, but not without great difficulty because of continued societal beliefs about marriage.
The question which will decide how soon out country criminalize rape in marriage may ultimately rest on the issue of religion and education. Given our strong religious beliefs, maybe many of us would dissent that a husband can rape his wife based traditional Christian family values. Let us hope that we follow up on this call and realise more modern laws in favor of advancement.
Our nation has made significant strides in the advancement of women’s equality, particularly in education and in the workplace, but we must not get complacent on fighting against women abuse of any kind. For until we change the laws to prevent all forms of discrimination against women, we would not have achieved equality of the sexes as recommended by the United Nations. There are still a number of areas of the law which we have to consider, what about the issue of common law marriage? Will we also ask our laws to recognize common law marriages for the purpose of property rights?
Well said Angeldominic i could not agree with you more. Where do those problems stem from then? Its all about materialism. People have forgotten God and want to do things on their own. We use youthfulness, beauty, Money etc as castles of comfort. Time will tell. God gave us the perfect rules how to deal with each other but we prefer to do it our own way. Women are flowers and that is how they are to be treated. For those who talk about equality they do it for convenience, i.e we are all equal but when it comes to the dirty jobs, they ask where are the men?.Ephesians 5:21-31 gives us perfect instructions. Love and love making has to be a warm feeling beneficial for both partners, if a relationship eventually reaches the point where rape becomes an option then something is seriously wrong with that relationship. There are so many people now who are miserable with no love in their hearts because of the past or because they have made the wrong choices……and they blame that is men blame the women and vice versa. Simply we are just too busy with our selves
Thank you C…..Citizen…
People in love, WILL never!! force, Because love making is something sheared….
A husband/wife….should be dear to the ones fortunate to have one. and should be protected by all means possible…
Positive attracts positive..
Negative attracts negative..
WHY WOULD A WOMAN ALLOW HER HUSBAND TO RAPE HER ?
GIVE THE MAN HIS STUFF, U MARRIED HIM
Mrs John..Which stuff are you talking about? getting married is not something you purchase at the market…And if you’re referring to SEX!!!! it is also something between two….something seared not given…..
A husband/wife is not ones property…..it is a gift…
@ mouth of the south…….it’s clear that you enjoy behaving like a BUFFOON! What the hell are you talking about??? The only one ranting is you!!! RAPE is RAPE! What does child support, crack/cocaine have to do with Ms. Knight’s point on RAPE in MARRIAGE? All you do is ramble about NOTHING! I see you are still bored! Like I stated before……read a book, sing songs, exercise, jog, go fishing, go sailing, get lost somewhere! You are still an ignorant, dispicable perverted FOOL who lacks the basic common sense! USELESS THING!
This is not about having a sense of humor! There are people out there in dire need of a voice and Ms. Knight may be that very voice. There are people out there who are in that exact plight……going through this dispicable, traumatic experience. And there you go just talking a bunch of trash that is of no relevance to this piece!
so what u r saying,,,,the information i gave was wrong,,,was it wrong,,,in fact it was real informative to show my brothers n sisters how the black family have been systematically destroyed
….If a man gets to the point of raping his wife……then this marriage is no more. Personally If I am married, and I refused my husband! then am heading out of the door….WHY…? with valid reason yes!!! and people don’t do things without reason…..sometimes love fades away, RELATIONSHIPS, MARRIAGE and HAPPINESS is a constant job. Being unhappy may it be man / woman is unhealthy…..and before allowing love to turn to hate… and abuse towards each other… we should remember that no man’s or woman’s name is written on our on our birth paper.
Stay, and try to make things work, (MAYBE) or walk away……and keep our sanity…cause a night in jail will create nothing but anger…and angry people are capable of doing angry things…..
No loving man could rape his lover….and no lover should allow her loving man to get to the point of raping her……
Something is not right……
it funny how every one look out for woman right wat about d right of a man. that same woman who cry rape will turn around an want half of everything that man work hard to build. woman want total independence what about total equality an stop using your sexually to take advantage of every thing
MY FELLOW DOMINICANS, THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT IN SAYING WHAT SHE HAS SAID. THE LAW IS IF A MAN FORCES HIMSELF ON HIS WIFE WITHOUT THE FULL CONSENT OF THE WIFE, THAT IS INDEED RAPE AND IS HEREBY CONSIDERED A CRIME WHICH IS PUNISHABLE UNDER THE RAPE LAW. DOMINICAN MEN ARE SO ACCUSTOM OF FORCING THEMSELVES ON WOMEN, EVEN ON THEIR OWN CHILDREN AND GETTING AWAY WITH IT THAT WHEN THE LAW APPLIES, THEY TEND TO PLAY DUMB AND IGNORANT. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT THERE ARE SO MANY WOMEN BEING RAPED IN DOMINICA? IT IS BECAUSE THE MEN HAVE BEEN GETTING AWAY WITH IT FOR TO LONG AND IT IS HAD TO STOP THEM FROM DOING IT RIGHT NOW. THE BEST PUNISHMENT FOR A RAPIST REGARDLESS OF WHOM HE RAPE’S IS CASTRATION.
This isuse and message is definitley correct and should not taken lightly but the wrong messanger is putting forth the most important message. This woman ( not lady) has become nothing but a large polarizing figure in our society. She has zeo (0) crediblity in the eyes of many. The fact that she is carrying the message obscures the real point. She needs to continue with her ‘real job’ and that is being a pirate and ‘SUTEEWEY” for Skerrit. She needs to go and hide her shameless slef under some rocks in the river.
No one is someone elses property. A marriage is a two way thing. Love making should be a two way thing (note I did not say sex). One person should not feel obliged to do anything that they dont want to do.
Rape in marriage is a serious subject and should be taken seriously. No I am not a feminist, in fact I am a happly married woman and have been for the past 26 years. I dare my husband to describe me as his property. We are on equal terms.
It all boils down to abuse. Any man who feels that it is OK to take what he sees as his has a serious problem. If they have daughters and their daughters were ever to complain that such things were happening in their marriages, I’m sure that they would take a different stance.
woman come here 4 me to grease ur bearings!!!!!
I like your pic Madam–except that you are missing a cigarette.
why not say the picture is wrong why the insult, this is a serious matter.
What about legislation preventing rape against Dominica Ms. Knights? You and your pal Skerrit know a thing or two about that………….In fact you have become experts at that…….
huh rape in marriage is huhhh sometimes good a little spice in the marriage because at the end is sure feel good cause no woman nor man is going to stand there and tell me their wife or husband rape them and they did not take part in it at one point during it cause you lie unless you have a serious problem aldo i do not like a rapist, i dont see it as rape waht about man take your thing i not doing making a move ? we have all be there so alix maybe need a husband or her sex life is boring she need some help to spice it up
This woman has Dominica going down the drain because she is more inclined to destroy marriages that are in need of some help than she is in offering help. I think she is a hater of men and CLEARLY disreguards the WORD of GOD: That’s why family values have gone down the drain so rapidly in Dominica, and people like her must be blamed for that. I do not know if she is married and has problems in her marriage, if she was ever married, or if she is a lover of ladies and would prefer them to stay single. Miss Night, what about if a wife has sex with her husband without his approval? Would this be rape as well? Miss night, here is what the Holy Bible says about this subject and please do not treat God’s Word as you treat the opposition in your usal bully way: 1Cor. 7:4 The wife has no power over her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband has no power over his own body but the wife. Verse 5 went on to say that neither the husband not rhe wife should keep sex away from each other except it be with consent…
Can’t you see Alix Boyd-Knights is a feminist? These feminists have a serious complex and issues with men. They are too anti-men. They want to be boss! They want dominion over men and they use cunning terms such as equal rights with men etc.
By the same token, it should be a criminal offense for a wife to refuse her husband without a legitimate reasons. It is wrong for a wife to refuse her husband and vice versa as this opens the avenues for greater evils (adultery).
hehehehehhehe. This is important discussion is reduced into laughter, you are not easy!!!!! But point taken…..
i like your point! that’s a topic for discussion though….lol
Thank you forgetting
It’s true, these people always have some women’s rights issues. They talk about equality etc. What about mens rights? Our rights to have access to our wives? How about our rights to be loved, honoured and obeyed? Don’t we have equal rights too? It is time for these feminists to stop this nonsense!
The comments here are so deplorable i’m still sick and disgusted with you people and your narrowminded ice age thinking chavaunist selves!
It amazes me sometimes when i read these comments or comments globally as a matter of fact on issues like that. Where is the love in people’s hearts? Where are our consciences? What are we thinking? Rape is rape no matter where or when or with who it happen.. stranger.. family member… husband.! That is the point.. we not talking about woman raping man and trust me the ratio to the later is much much smaller than the first.. So what are you CHAVAUNISTS point? I am all for equality. I am tired of women being weak and small fragile people.. Wake up and stop making excuses for men and their dirty ways. And a special request for all the women that on here saying women are supposed to give their husband what they want ** God forbid the day you end up in an argument with your spouse or boyfriend.. u angry .. he angry and he decide he want to have sex with you… and while u screaming no in bed he forcing your legs open until it leaves marks.. n pushes through into you until you tear and then after he is done you will lay there crying an bleeding and then you might know** But most likely you will never feel but try to open you all little brain and understand the Decades this has been happening for and then Open your mouth and make a Valuable comment.
Im Done
this is really graphic my friend
Wow I was almost going to take for the men ….but I change my mind. Dam that is graphic…. if I ever have to go through that someone will die eh. I am all with Alix on that one. We will disagree again when she plays the fool in the house.
Well is now some husbands not going to get….alas. But I do believe that rape exists within marriages because there are times when you really and truly are not up to it and the husbands not hearing that. But at the end of the day, it all boils down to LOVE and RESPECT….and nothing else.
que mall,
thats the reason the whole world is going to end,to bad,1 thimothy, woman mouth must be still,woman canot teach or preach or give man advice,but allways remain silance,in mathew man is master in his home as christ is master in his church,woman must submitt to her husband,is writt’n,if any one dont like it then they are a anti-christ,period.these where laws was written before us and will be there untill he comes,
Oooh chech in in Genn, man is master over all dominioum, solong
please stop taking the word of God out of context. i am a born again God fearing man and a doer of the word . but that while a man is master not a dominator or dictator in his home he owes his love and care to his wife just as christ loves his church and yes the wife must subimit willingly withe the fear of God not of the husband. anyway i agree with u that our world is becoming crazy with all the laws that man is comingup with to try and put Gods rule to an end. a wifes body belongs to her husband just as the husband to the wife as the word of God states so therefor a husband cant rape his wife . if a woman feels that she is not in the mood for sex as thats what they must often base their feelings on she still should not deprive her husband of sex let the man take his thing and all is well. why are we trying to give the women even more reasons to put confussion in the home. have we not seen that its bcause of these foolish laws of man that society is become what it is today?
one can no longer correct their children bcause the law calls it abuse if u beat a child and i am not talking of cases where people do abuse their children. the bible declares in proverbs that foolishness is instilled in the heart of a child but the rod of correction will drive it out ; whats the rod ? its the word of God, the warnings that we give as parents and the rod which is a belt or mabe a ruler with which u spank a child.it also says if we spear the rod we spoil the child. it also states that when a man/woman marries they become one what is his is hers and what is hers is his. we have gone away from the word of GOd and thats the reason today one is told that he can rape his again i say his wife. now a man has no right to beat and force his wife to sex but lets make our woman to understand that their body belongs to their husbands and if the man wants sex just stay on yr bed and feed the man now am not saying that a man should be at his wife for brekfast lunch supper 24:/7. he also needs to be reasonable. the wife can have a justified reason for not wanting but it should not be a thing of i giving him when i want.
we will have a better nation when we understand and follow the basic principles of Gods word. we cant have a strong nation without strong familys , we cant have strong families if the laws of the nation continue to impliment such foolish laws. this is one of the reasons we have somany divoices today and somany reble children out on our streets
Master when you cannot contribute even bread to put on the table? Stupes. Master when you get a paycheck you go to the rum shop or by the other woman while your children don’t have schoolbooks? Stupes. Master when you topping up all little girls phones’ but your electricity disconnected at your home? STUPESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSs……..EQUAL RIGHTS AND JUSTICE
ok serious note now::: my people lets understand all these laws were brought upon us to keep the black man down,,,,the blacks in the urban areas of the u.s.a have been hounded since it was revealed that crack/cocaine was brought into the neighbourhoods as a way to keep us deprived,,,to destroy the black family unit,,,it back fired when the drug began making its way to the suburbs (white neighbourhoods),,,how do we keep these bastards down within legal bounds???? aha lets give them welfare n child support!!!!! ureka ureka!!!!!,,,,,unlike dominica in the u.s.a when a woman is on welfare there can’t be a man in the house hold,,,back in the 70’s when it was popular most men willingly left the household so that there wives/commonlaw wives and children could at least survive,,,then it back fired,,,the women figured since u r a burden n e way why keep u around n have to secretly share my welfare with u,,,,most men could not be part of their childrens lives even if they wanted for our sisters would call the cops on us,,,,so the demise of the black family unit began,,,up to now young women don’t work,,,just give them a child and they happy,,,the money comes in every month from gov’t,,,,hair done nails done,,,,looking like drag queens every weekend,,,no education why should they,,,,they get free money,,,all they gotta do is get preggerz,,,kick the man out get welfare money and STILL the system enables them to take the brothers to court for child support,,,,,this is the systematic demise of the black family unit,,,,now for the married ones they had to introduce the kind of laws ms knight is advocating,,,,we blindly follow these laws with no knowledge of their intentions,,,,
I am not very fond of this speaker of the house but I do agree with her on this matter. Some men do like to have their wives like their property. Their wives need to be respected and treated like a queen not to be raped. He has no right to just take her as he chooses. In these enlightened days women need to stand up for themselves and not allow men to walk all over them.
Also I do believe that sometimes as women we marry the wrong person and that can be the beginning of a life of turmoil. My advice to women please choose your husbands wisely assess his character and see what he is made of. There are a lot of little, insecure boys running around calling themselves men.
bull $@@@#%
ok d next i say i have a headache and he take his viagara he will have to go somewhere else or i pressing charges hahahehe..give me a break if a man have to force himself on his wife there is major problem and dey need a divorce attorney not a defense attorney
the law like to lean on the woman side, then woman do their thing man get blame then we fall. then they blame man for not doing there work as a man. but if u constantly bring them down to their knee’s what do u think? they will never get up the ladder. This is all the plans of the DEVIL to destroy this world take out the man the world finish i bet all of us know that. the devil wants to destroy the men because they r the head
madam speaker! where iniquity abounds the love grows cold,but where love dwells there’s absolutely no place 4 rape…but again I wonder if she really ever enjoyed such previllages….poor woman
This Lady is Crazy.
Interesting article… BUT…Let us bring some balance here. All this talk about rape in marriage is really the consequence of a very poor marriage husban/wife relationship. People with their own little demons will seek public vent in such issues -such as the Madam here. Rape of Parliament can also said to be in poor taste and CRIMINAL! What about that?
Give women their rights! in common law relationships as an example, a woman should be allowed to claim against a man property if it shown that she contributed to it.
Good article JF…keep up the good work
im sorry my dear but i disagree with u. When u decided to give the man the cow and the milk for free thats when u were wrong. YOu cant expect common law folks and married folks to have the same rights..nonsense. These common law folks need to go get it in writing. Let the mas marry you its the right and honourable thing…stupes …smh
well, that is a problem that madam speaker will not have to worry about.
All of this supports the fact that too many people get married for the wrong reasons. If man and woman are married because they love each other, there would be no place for rape in a marriage. A man who loves his wife also cares for her feelings as a person. The same goes for the wife to her husband.
I have never been a wife; but the men whom I dated never had sexual activity with me, without my consent. In my young adult years, when I dated a young man in Dominica, he onced told me that he would have had sex with me already, for the length of time we had been dating, if he did not love me. The reason he said that was because I was very, very slow in consenting to sexual conducts. Sex was never my priority in my relationship with a man. One of my boyfriends in Toronto, told me that he liked that attitude in me. That means that even if those guys were not having sexual conducts with me, they both felt secure with me as their girlfriend, at our period of dating each other. My son’s father was no difference. In other words they respected me as a person and even admired my attitude towards sex. It is like a love song that I like which says: “You are such a saint the way you are, I wouldn’t change if I could” It is sung by a country music singer named Ricky Skagg. Of course, I am not that saintly in flesh and blood. That is why I live in the Spirit by faith.
So men who rape their wives, do so because of a few reasons; the two that I can point out based on my observation is:
(i) The man does not love his wife, or neither of them love the other. As the Mighty Sparrow said in a song: ”When you are out to eat, all saltfish sweet” So man wants “to eat” at a time when wife do not care to feed him, and for all other kinds of reasons that he does not care to understand, so he forces himself on her.
(2) The man who believes he must rape a woman is insecure with her, even if she is his wife. Many habits in a wife could cause a husband to feel insecure about her. One of the first reasons is that she is an unfaithful wife; raping her could be a way by which he cools down his anger or revenge against her. It could also be his way to escape the fear of losing her, which might be eminent to him.
There are many other reasons why men rape there wives but nothing can solve those awful conflicts of marriage, or any other living situations, except God and His conducts and attitude of Love in our lifestyle. The police, the courts, separation of home and families, and what else? Prison term! How will that solve the problem?
One of the advices of marriage from the apostle Paul says: “Let the husband render to his wife the affection due to her, and likewise, the wife to her husband. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourself to fasting and prayer”. (Put sexual conducts aside when the time comes to spend with God). This advice is for everyone, for it is a moral priniciple.
You shouldn’t fornicate in the first place, it’s against scriptures, that is hypocrisy…when you all finish you all preaching about Jesus Christ! Hypocrite!
all shall sin n fall short of the glory of God,,,,,is not what the person do,,,,but what r u doin with urs,,,,thats why we are warned,,,not look unto man for God won’t accept such excuse,,,,regardless how u feel,,,what she said made sense,,,appreciate that someone tried adding some i.q’s to ur brain nah
@mouth of the south
Thanks to you for the defense on my behalf. That is one of the reasons I love you. Just do not stop making me laugh. In a world n and women who holds nothing but vile and hostility in their minds against their fellow men, we desperately need people who are like you. Thanks again!
@ My opinion
Leave the judgment for God Almighty; and I hope you will not have to stand before the White Throne Judgment Seat of God, since you sound as if you inherited perfection at your birth, for that judgment will send you right into the pit of hell to live with Satan.
Well I am a human being, and I was not as lucky as you were. Just like the rest of human beings, I came into this world with flesh and blood, and a human mind, that is capable of committing sins. But you should have noticed that I spoke about my life with men in the past tense.
Yes indeed, I know the difference between living in darkness, blindness, and nakedness and living in the Light, with the mind of Spirit and Truth. That is the reason my identity is Lizavier4Jesus. I now have a New Life, and I am bold to say that Jesus Christ is the only Man in my Life today. “For He touched me and made me whole”. I now live for Him alone, since 20 years ago, as I know what He did on the cross for my sake. Can you say that about yourself?
Poor Alix . . . she never hear about WOOD DEM?? …
Siki boy Madame Speaker will decalay you for that. LOL
Great article.
If and when a husband forces his wife to have sex, the harmony is missing some where.
There are other factors that may lead the wife to refuse,eg fatigue, not in the mood, sick, tired, etc
But some wives use the opportunity to whipp their husbands by not having sex with them, and
therefore leaves him starving. which results in not raping as they say but lead to other avenues.
wife can not say no to husband he have a right to take it thats not rape. give me some of that.
boy i hope u dont have wife wat u mean is his he make it we tell women sweet things in thier ear
and think after that we own them if she say no and keep saying no take matters into your own hand
if any one do that and she felt like she was raped trust me marriage is over its 50 50 u should respect your spouse and she should do the same u that telemac guy i wonder about u some time
with some things u say on here
ANOTHER SHALLOW MINDED DOMINICAN !
You had yours, you got rid of him,,,,,now you want others to follow in your footsteps? To do what, come and join you?
Choops
how can marital rape only be when husbands forcefully have sex with their wives,,,,,,since lastweek them feminists on a rant,,,what about when wives forcefully have sex with their husbands,,,,the law did not address that one,,,,i thought marriage meant ‘u are mine and i am urs’,,,not saying that pain is part of it but i find those feminists going for too much tings,,,,i must say the speaker looking chicky in dat pic eh,,,we must go on a date man,,,