25 per cent men rape wives, claims UN study that surveyed 6 countries including India

Hyderabad: A 2013 UN study that surveyed 10,000 men from six countries, including India, said that 25 per cent admitted to having raped their partner.

The study said the men strongly believed they have a right to sex with their partner regardless of consent. Women's rights activists say consent for sex is necessary inside marriage.

“Ensuring that women have full autonomy over their bodies is the first step towards achieving equality between women and men,” said Navi Pillay, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Soumya Bollapragada, whose short film on marital rape in India attracted many, says society ignores this problem. While preparing for her film I am She, Soumya interacted with several victims.

“It was painful to hear the stories. Nobody wanted to report and make their condition worse. The most shocking thing I encountered was that many victims were well educated,” Soumya said. “But, we as a society ignore this serious issue,” she added.

There is a large section of society which believes that marital rape does not exist. Saumya says she decided to include real life testimonies on marital rape to prove that it is as serious as other major crimes. “I included them so that people do not think these are cooked up stories,” she said.

In India, often women's rights are taken away after marriage and many are treated like personal property by husbands. “A woman who is trapped in a relationship in which she is forced to have sex against her wishes is just a sex slave. A married woman who is in such a relationship, is like a slave of yore when slavery was legal as she has no escape route,” said women’s rights activist, Sanandan Kuthiala, who started an online petition against marital rape.

Earlier, the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) had said that India should amend its laws to “reflect the realities of sexual abuse experienced by married women.”