Man Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Wife in First-of-its-kind Ruling

In the first-of-its-kind ruling, a man who assaulted and forced his wife to do sexual activities was convicted. On August 20, the Seoul Central Court prosecuted Kim, 45 years old, for sexually abusing his wife and sentenced him with two years and six months in jail. The court also suspended the sentence for three years.

Implications of the Ruling—

The court stated, “We admit as facts the allegations by the prosecution that he sexually abused his wife and injured her by bending her arms as she demanded a divorce, and we find them to be a case for a conviction.”

The ruling will constitute the first case exemplifying that a woman’s right to sexual self-determination should not be breached, even by a spouse. Sexual self-determination refers to the notion that the will and opinion of a sexual actor should be respected.

“As the husband used violence and forcedly bent her arms, he violated the wife’s right to sexual self-determination,” the court said.

“A marriage includes mutual compliance with mutual sexual demands, but it does not mean that one spouse can renounce the right of sexual self-determination from the other,” it concluded.

Rape—

The ruling was about sexual abuse. However, it may well be applied to marital rape cases. The accused sexually abused his wife in this case, but he stopped short of intercourse, which would have constituted a rape.

In March, 1970, the Supreme Court ruled, “When the couple promised to start anew after the husband’s withdrawal of an adultery complaint against the wife, his forced intercourse with the wife did not constitute a rape.”

“The case in question is about sexual abuse. The ruling does not contradict the Supreme Court ruling,” said the Seoul court. “Therefore, it does not admit the criminality of marital rape.”

Kim’s wife filed a divorce lawsuit against him in October 2003 and simultaneously filed a complaint with the police over his sexual abuses against her. In July, the coupled decided to get divorced at the Seoul Family Court on the condition that Kim would give her part of his 220 million won personal property.

Public Reaction—

Women activists welcomed the verdict. “With the ruling, legal practices and general social consciousness, which give a legislative immunity to husbands who sexually abuse their wives, should change,” said the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center.

“The ruling will play a pivotal role in breaking old legal practices,” said the Korean Women Link.

“An abusive husband often forces sexual activities upon his wife on the pretext of reconciliation of an argument; also, a husband who is facing a divorce often sexually abuses the wife,” said Park Young-ran, a social welfare professor at Kangnam University. “It should be stipulated that forcing unwanted sexual activities on one spouse by the other is rape.”

The Ministry of Gender Equality attempted to ban marital rape in 2001. However, efforts did not come with a timeframe because of some opposition from legal professionals as well as the public, which claim such a ban would destroy the traditional mutual trust of couples.

Marital Rape in Other Countries—

In some advanced countries, under criminal law, marital rape or marital sexual abuse is likely to constitute a crime. As late as 1976, there was a marital exemption in the U.S. However, it has begun to be repealed gradually. It became abolished completely in 1996 when 17 states finally ditched the exemption.

In most of the U.S.’ 50 states, marital rape constitutes a crime, and the victims are also allowed to file civil lawsuits.

In the U.K., marital rape was criminally banned in 1994. In Germany, a revised crime code excluded marital rape exemption in 1997.

Ji-Seong Jeon Jin-Kyeong Kim verso@donga.com kjk9@donga.com