My work was created from an article from an 1867 edition of The Brooklyn Eagle where a man who raped his wife was, unfortunately yet unsurprisingly, let off the hook with no punishment. Judge Dailey, who decided on the case, stated that because they were married it did not count as rape. This is still a problem in the United States today. According to the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence, 10-14% of married women are raped by their partners and one third reported having “unwanted sex” with their partners. Only in 1993 did marital rape become a punishable offense in all 50 states of the U.S. To this day, there are still exemptions in many states that say that the spouse is exempt if they did not have to use force or if the other was unable to consent (unconscious or mentally/physically impaired).

Sources:

Unknown (1867, May 29). THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT. The Brooklyn Eagle Retrieved from https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50391248/?terms=counting%20up%20the%20cost&match=1

Bergen, R. (1999). Spousal Rape Laws. National Electronic Network on Violence Against women. http://www.ncdsv.org/images/NCVC_SpousalRapeLaws20YearsLater_2004.pdf