Can I sue my husband for forcibly having sex with me?
Dear Mirror Lawyer, I married my husband at a very young age. We are 21 years into marriage with five children.
I have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which results in severe abdominal pain. Due to my condition, I find it difficult to have sexual intercourse with my husband.
Despite my condition, my husband still demands sex from me and whenever I deny him, he forcibly has sex with me. This situation worsens my pain.
I want to sue my husband for forcibly having sex with me without my consent. Is it permissible?
Maame Mansa, Sunyani.
Dear Maame, I'm sorry you had to go through all that despite your health condition. In Ghana, before 2007, Section 42(g) of the Criminal & Other Offences Act 1960 (Act 29) exempted spouses from “revoking consent” given the purpose of marriage.
This provision meant that husbands could not be held liable for raping their wives, their wives having “perpetually” consented to sex while married.
This is no longer the case. Although there is no law specifically on marital rape, the Domestic Violence Act, 2007 (Act 732) suggests that husbands are no longer justified in forcibly having sex with their wives.
Sex in marriage without consent is now treated as rape and the husband shall be subjected to the full rigours of the law.
Section 1 provides:
Domestic violence means engaging in the following within the context of a previous or existing domestic relationship:
(b) Specific acts, threats to commit or acts likely to result in
(ii) “Sexual abuse, namely the forceful engagement of a sexual contact which includes sexual conduct that abuses, humiliates and degrades the other person or
otherwise violates another person’s sexual integrity or a sexual contact by a person aware of being infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or any other sexually transmitted disease with another person without that other person being given prior information of the infection.”
What constitutes a domestic relationship under Act 732 is explained in section 2. It states that a domestic relationship means a family relationship, a relationship akin to a family relationship, or a relationship in a domestic situation that exists or has existed between a complainant and a respondent, including a relationship in which the complainant is or has been married to the respondent.
This relationship comprises marriage, courtship, boyfriend-and-girlfriend cohabitation or a cordial relationship, not necessarily including a sexual relationship.
The Domestic Violence Act does not explicitly mention marital rape.
However, its wording seems to suggest condemnation of the sexual gratification of husbands without consent.
Your marriage does not give your husband the license to forcibly have sex with you whenever he wants, even to the detriment of your health nor does it give him the right to sexually abuse you, especially in your case of ill health.
This puts your life in danger. The law mentioned earlier frowns on such acts in marriages and other relationships. I will advise that you go to the nearest police station and make a complaint or seek the services of a lawyer to sue your husband for assault and battery.
