# data[].attributes.body
Since women for a long time were unable to own property, the economics surrounding this law made it so that the wives were dependant on their husbands making it nearly impossible for the wives to leave.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Marital rape accounts for approximately 25% of all rapes."

# data[].attributes.subject
"Marital rape accounts for approximately 25% of all rapes."

# data[].attributes.body
“Report to Congress on the Family Violence Prevention and Services Program, 2007/2008.” Office of Child Care | ACF, 15 Apr. 2009, www.acf.hhs.gov/archive/fysb/resource/fvpsa-congress-2007-08.

# data[].attributes.body
Although this is a Federal Law, there was enough leeway that 33 states could implement policies that provide exceptions for husbands being prosecuted. Other than in situations that the wife is unable to consent. Marital rape was still seen as less of a crime than the rape of a person you are not married to.
Bergen, Raquel Kennedy. “Marital Rape.” Applied Research Forum, 1999.

# data[].attributes.body
Modern Feminists often are the ones that they state they were first to organize against Marital Rape. This policy is tightly tied to the Feminist and Women's Rights movement.

Hasday, J.E. (2000). Contest and Consent: A Legal History of Marital Rape. California

Law Review, 88. Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/view

content.cgi?article=1484&context=californialawreview

# data[].attributes.body
Many that use The Bible as a basis to not consider could quote Corinthians 7:4 “The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband.”

# data[].attributes.body
Prior to the Law, "Common law" provided an exemption for husbands for raping their wives. Married women had little to no rights. That included things like to own property or to sue.
There's also the traditional view, that viewed the wives as the property of their husbands, and they could do as they pleased with them. The public wanted to keep privacy and harmony in marital relationships, and that in return discouraged the states from becoming involved.

England, D. C. (2015, March 27). The History of Marital Rape Laws. Retrieved from                           https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/crime-penalties/marital-rape.htm
Hasday, J.E. (2000). Contest and Consent: A Legal History of Marital Rape. California

Law Review, 88. Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/view

content.cgi?article=1484&context=californialawreview

# data[].attributes.body
This policy wasn't influenced by economics, but it was influenced by ideology, politics, and a social movement. According to Hasday (2000), it was the feminist movement that addressed marital rape not too long after their historic Seneca Falls meeting, noting that married women should have the right to her own person and not her husband.

Reference:
Hasday, J.E. (2000). Contest and Consent: A Legal History of Marital Rape. California

Law Review, 88. Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/view

content.cgi?article=1484&context=californialawreview

# data[].attributes.body
Marital rape was made part of the sexual offence code in all 50 states on July 5th, 1993 (Bennice and Resick, 2003). The purpose of the policy was to make it so that husbands couldn't rape their wives and get away with it. The knowledge base that this policy rests on is that of several factors. According to Bergen (2006), some of the effects of marital rape range from painful gynecological diagnoses, such as tearing, pelvic pain, and infertility, to psychological diagnoses like shock, depression, and anxiety, which can have a negative impact in the long run. The opportunity of this policy would provide women with a legal right to prosecute their husbands for rape. A short term goal of the policy would be that it raises awareness and addresses the problem, and then the long term goal would be to end marital rape completely. The policy would not end unless overturned. The policy is expected to last indefinitely.
Reference:
Bennice, J.A., and Resick, P.A. (2003). Marital Rape: History, Research, and Practice.

Trauma, Violence, and Abuse, 4. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.go                  /App/publications/abstract.aspx?ID=201457
Bergen, R.K. (2006). Marital Rape: New Research and Directions. VAWnet: National Online
Resource Center on Violence Against Women. Retrieved from https://www.ev
awintl.org/Library/DocumentLibraryHandler.ashx?id=510

# data[].attributes.body
The nature of the problem was that women who were married could be raped by their husbands, and nothing was done about it. This was something that was happening all across the country, and could happen in any married household. With how many people were impacted by this, it's hard to say, as many didn't come forward to report what had happened, and even if they did, their report wasn't taken seriously and was brushed off, as it wasn't seen as a crime, which stemmed from why it was allowed to happen in the first place. According to Hasday (2000), Common Law Principles of Coverture in the nineteenth century made it so that women were expected to be obedient to their husbands, while the husbands could have absolute control over their wives, and it was known that if a woman married a man, she already gave him her consent because of that.

Reference:
Hasday, J.E. (2000). Contest and Consent: A Legal History of Marital Rape. California

Law Review, 88. Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/view

content.cgi?article=1484&context=californialawreview