Marital rape laws by country

Throughout history until the 1970s, most states granted a husband the right to have sex with his wife whenever he so desired, as part of the marriage contract.

However, in the 20th century and especially since the 1970s, women's rights groups initiated the anti-rape movement, demanding that they be given sexual autonomy over their own bodies, including within marriage.

[1] In some countries, the prevailing logic goes that there is no such thing as 'marital rape', since the verb 'to rape' (Latin: rapere) originally meant 'to steal' or 'to seize and carry off' (although its meaning shifted during the Middle Ages to 'violently abducting a woman for the purpose of forced coitus'[3]), and it is impossible to steal something you already 'own', and a husband 'owns' his wife in marriage.

[1]: 48  However, in a few of those countries that do not criminalise marital rape, such as Malaysia, a husband can still be punished if he uses violence in order to have sex with his wife.

[352][47][law 112] Marital rape was explicitly criminalised by the Anti- Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 (Sec.