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Marital rape in United States law, also known as spousal rape, is non-consensual sex in which the perpetrator is the victim's spouse. It is a form of partner rape, of domestic violence, and of sexual abuse. Marital rape is today illegal in all 50 US states. The legal history of marital rape laws in the United States is a long and complex one, that spans over several decades. The criminalization of marital rape in the United States started in the mid-1970s and by 1993 marital rape became a crime in all 50 states, under at least one section of the sexual offense codes. During the 1990s, most states differentiated between the way marital rape and non-marital rape were treated. The laws have continued to change and evolve, with most states reforming their legislation in the 21st century, but differences remain in some states, in particular in South Carolina. ==History to 1993== The views which contributed to rape laws not being applicable in marriage can be traced, at least partially, to 17th century English common law, which was exported to the British American colonies. The 17th-century English jurist, Sir Matthew Hale, stated the position of the common law in ''The History of the Pleas of the Crown (1736)'' that a husband cannot be guilty of the rape of his wife because the wife "''hath given up herself in this kind to her husband, which she cannot retract''". The principle, no record of which is found earlier than Hale's view, would continue to be accepted as a statement of the law in England and Wales until it was overturned by the House of Lords in the case of ''R. v. R'' in 1991, where it was described as an anachronistic and offensive legal fiction. The strong influence of conservative Christianity in the US may have also played a role: the Bible at 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 explains that one has a "conjugal duty" to have sexual relations with one's spouse (in sharp opposition to sex outside marriage which is considered a sin) and states that "''The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another (...)''"〔(Biblegateway.com )〕 - and this is interpreted by some conservative religious figures as rejecting the possibility of marital rape.〔(ADN.com )〕 In the United States, prior to the mid-1970s marital rape was exempted from ordinary rape laws. The exemption is also found in the 1962 Model Penal Code, which stated that "''A male who has sexual intercourse with a female not his wife is guilty of rape if: (...)''".〔(Wps-prenhall.com )〕 In some states, courts have struck down the marital exemption as unconstitutional. In the 1984 New York Court of Appeals case of ''People v. Liberta'', judge Sol Wachtler stated that "a marriage license should not be viewed as a license for a husband to forcibly rape his wife with impunity. A married woman has the same right to control her own body as does an unmarried woman".〔(''People v. Liberta'' 64 N.Y.2d 152, 474 N.E.2d 567, 485 N.Y.S.2d 207(1984) )〕 Similarly, in Alabama, the marital exemptions from the sodomy law (''Williams v. State'' (1986)〔(Law.ua.edu )〕) and from the rape law (''Merton v. State'' (1986)〔(''Merton v. State'' 500 So.2d 1301 (1986) )〕) were found unconstitutional. By 1993, all states had withdrawn the marital rape exemptions, the last states to do so being Oklahoma and North Carolina (both in 1993) or the exemption had been declared judicially to be unconstitutional. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Marital rape (United States law)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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