Marriage

====Sexual violence====
{{Main|Marital rape}}
An issue that is a serious concern regarding marriage and which has been the object of international scrutiny is that of [[marital rape|sexual violence within marriage]]. Throughout much of the history, in most cultures, sex in marriage was considered a 'right', that could be taken by force (often by a man from a woman), if 'denied'. As the concept of [[human rights]] started to develop in the 20th century, and with the arrival of [[second-wave feminism]], such views, and laws, have become less widely held.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Freedman |first=Estelle B. |date=2013-08-25 |title=Feminism's amazing achievement: Changing the conversation – and laws – about rape |url=https://www.salon.com/2013/08/25/how_feminism_redefined_rape/ |access-date=2022-10-11 |website=Salon |language=en}}</ref>

The legal and social concept of marital rape has developed in most industrialized countries in the mid- to late 20th century; in many other parts of the world it is not recognized as a form of abuse, socially or legally. Several countries in [[Eastern Europe]] and [[Scandinavia]] made marital rape illegal before 1970, and other countries in [[Western Europe]] and the English-speaking [[Western world]] outlawed it in the 1980s and 1990s. In [[England and Wales]], marital rape was made illegal in 1991. Although marital rape is being increasingly criminalized in [[Developing country|developing countries]] too, cultural, religious, and traditional ideologies about "conjugal rights" remain very strong in many parts of the world; and even where countries may have adequate laws against rape in marriage, these laws may rarely be enforced.<ref name="Banerjee Rao 2022 pp. 11–13">{{cite journal | last1=Banerjee | first1=Debanjan | last2=Rao | first2=T. S. Sathyanarayana | title=The Dark Shadow of Marital Rape: Need to Change the Narrative | journal=Journal of Psychosexual Health | volume=4 | issue=1 | date=2022 | issn=2631-8318 | doi=10.1177/26318318221083709 | pages=11–13| doi-access=free }}</ref>

Apart from the issue of rape committed against one's spouse, marriage is, in many parts of the world, closely connected with other forms of sexual violence: in some places, like [[Morocco]]<!---see specific example below--->, unmarried girls and women who are raped are often forced by their families to marry their rapist. Because being the victim of rape and losing [[virginity]] carry extreme social stigma, and the victims are deemed to have their "reputation" tarnished, a marriage with the rapist is arranged. This is claimed to be in the advantage of both the victim – who does not remain unmarried and does not lose social status – and of the rapist, who avoids punishment. In 2012, after a Moroccan 16-year-old girl committed [[suicide]] after having been forced by her family to marry her rapist and enduring further abuse by the rapist after they married, there have been protests from activists against this practice which is common in Morocco.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17379721 |title=Morocco protest after raped Amina Filali kills herself |work=BBC News |date=15 March 2012 }}</ref>

In some societies, the very high social and religious importance of marital fidelity, especially female fidelity, has as result the criminalization of adultery, often with harsh penalties such as [[stoning]] or [[Flagellation|flogging]]; as well as leniency towards punishment of violence related to infidelity (such as [[honor killing]]s).<ref>[[Domestic violence]] is today illegal in the [[Western World]], but this is not the case in many [[developing countries]]. In [[Jordan]], for instance, part of article 340 of the Penal Code states that "''he who discovers his wife or one of his female relatives committing adultery and kills, wounds, or injures one of them, is exempted from any penalty''. {{cite book|author1=Altstein, Howard  |author2=Simon, Rita James |name-list-style=amp |title=Global perspectives on social issues: marriage and divorce|publisher=[[Lexington Books]]|location=Lexington, Mass|year=2003|page=11|isbn=978-0-7391-0588-7}}</ref> In the 21st century, criminal laws against adultery have become controversial with international organizations calling for their abolition.<ref>[http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/10/adultery-laws-unfairly-target-women-u-n-says/ IPS – Adultery Laws Unfairly Target Women, U.N. Says | Inter Press Service]. Ipsnews.net (24 October 2012). Retrieved on 5 September 2013.</ref><ref name="ohchr.org">[http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12672&LangID=E DisplayNews]. Ohchr.org (18 October 2012). Retrieved on 5 September 2013.</ref> Opponents of adultery laws argue that these laws are a major contributor to discrimination and violence against women, as they are enforced selectively mostly against women; that they prevent women from reporting [[sexual violence]]; and that they maintain social norms which justify violent crimes committed against women by husbands, families and communities. A Joint Statement by the United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice states that "Adultery as a criminal offence violates women's human rights".<ref name="ohchr.org"/> Some human rights organizations argue that the criminalization of adultery also violates internationally recognized protections for private life, as it represents an arbitrary interference with an individual's privacy, which is not permitted under international law.<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/10/11/indonesia-new-aceh-law-imposes-torture Indonesia: New Aceh Law Imposes Torture | Human Rights Watch]. Hrw.org (11 October 2009). Retrieved on 5 September 2013.</ref>