1st Marital Rape Conviction

1st Marital Rape Conviction

Gabriela Rodriguez

This project is a collage of the law Oregon passed in 1977 that didn't grant marriage or cohabitation a legal defense for rape charges. Alongside that, the Oregon v. Rideout (1978) case is also mentioned since it was the first case in the United States in which a married man living with his wife was charged with raping her. Before that, married men could not be charged with rape unless living separately from their wives. Soon after, more states began changing their laws regarding marital rape. By 1993, marital rape was considered illegal in all fifty states.

The reason I chose to create a collage was because I wanted to capture both overlapping historical events regarding marital rape during the 20th century in the United States. I found myself to be both surprised and not surprised when I read that the first marital rape exception law was not enacted until 1977. What was more unsettling, was the fact that not until 1993 did all fifty states declare marital rape illegal. My goal wasn't to create a collage that was too artistic or had too many details. I wanted it to be a visual metaphor for the case that was taking place and time period. The collage was meant to look like a newspaper with excerpts from the case. I left all but one picture with color, the picture of John and Greta Rideout. Seeing as this was the first case right after the 1977 marital rape exception law, it was the turning point for women and the law.