marital rape

A month after separating from his wife, a man broke into her parents’ house where she was staying and tried to have sex with her against her will. The husband was found guilty of attempted rape and sentenced to five years in prison. He appealed on the grounds that a husband could not be found guilty of raping his wife.

The case went up to the House of Lords where it was heard by five senior judges. They decided that the rule that a husband could not rape his wife (which went back to before 1736) should no longer be part of the law, since a husband and wife were now seen as equal partners in marriage.

As a result the law was changed and a man who forces his wife to have sexual intercourse against her will may now be guilty of rape.