Criminal Charges / Crimes

When a person forces another person to have sex or perform other sexual acts without their consent, it may be considered sexual abuse or rape. Even if you are married or in a relationship with the person who is causing the abuse, generally, it is still considered abuse and may be a crime. Abuse in the context of intimate relationships is not something unusual: at least 7.7% of women suffer sexual abuse by an intimate partner (including spouses) throughout their lifetime.

Sexual abuse is a common form of domestic violence, and women often feel too embarrassed to talk about it. But please, know that you have the right to say “no”, even to your husband, and that you also have the right to be heard. Although you should consider your safety when thinking about how you will handle this situation. If your husband is forcing sexual contact that you do not want and that you have not consented to, he is sexually abusing you. To learn more about marital rape and resources for people going through this problem, You can see this page on our site: https://www.womenslaw.org/about-abuse/forms-abuse/sexual-abuse-and-explo…

Although the specific legal definitions vary from state to state, In general, most states recognize sexual contact not desired and not consented to as sexual abuse and recognize forced sex as a crime. For specific information about some of the laws relating to sexual abuse and rape in STATE, you can see our page about common crimes: LINK This page also has information about a organizations in STATE helping victims of sexual abuse who want to report the crime to the police, and victims who prefer not to report it [Check to see if the state’s crime page includes information about organizations who help victims of sexual abuse].

Since sexual abuse is a form of domestic violence, perhaps you would benefit from contacting a domestic violence organization in your area. These organizations provide assistance such as planning for safety, shelter, emotional help, among other things. To see a list of organizations of this type in STATE, see: LINK

Finally, another option to consider is perhaps to ask for an order of protection against your husband. A protection order is a civil order that provides protection for the person who is being abused. Certain forms of sexual abuse generally will allow a person to request a protection order against their husband . To see more information about this in your sate, along with the benefits of protection orders and steps to follow to obtain one, see: LINK