1990s regarding Sexual Abuse

1991 - The Criminalisation of Marital Rape 

The first legal written source on marital rape came from the 1736 treatise entitled History of the Pleas of the Crown by Sir Matthew Hale, a former Chief Justice of the Court of King’s Bench in England.

It was argued that, “the husband of a woman cannot himself be guilty of an actual rape upon his wife, on account of the matrimonial consent which she has given, and which she cannot retract”. The idea that women automatically give their consent as soon as they marry was carried legally for over 250 years. 

In the case of R V R in 1991, the marital exception for rape was overturned, first by the Court of Appeal, then it was bound by the House of Lords. In the Criminal Division of the Court of Appeal, Lord Lane CJ held that, "the time has now arrived when the law should declare that a rapist remains a rapist ... irrespective of his relationship with his victim." 

In modern society, it is frightening to think that only 30 years ago, it was not an offence for a husband to rape his wife. As rape is such a sensitive topic, it is not too shocking that nobody was actively campaigning to criminalise it. These campaigns could have been seen as 'too taboo' and insensitive to those who are victims of rape. However, this new introduction to the law helps to protect women against sexual domestic violence as the custodial sentence can be anything from 4 to 19 years. 

The Sex Offenders Act 1997

This Act established the Sex Offenders Register which contains the identities of all offenders of a sexual crime against adults or children. Although the register is only available to the police, the Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme allows ordinary people to make a request for the police to investigate a certain person. If they have committed a sexual crime in the past, their name will already be on the register and the police can warn the person the request came from. 

This allows people to rightfully know about the crimes people have committed in the past, especially if they are starting a relationship or friendship with them. This prevents future crime as it gives past offenders less of an opportunity to reoffend if people are more wary of their actions. 

The Sex Offenders Register could be seen as a very valuable factor in preventing domestic abuse, particularly sexual abuse. If partners are warned of these offenders before they get into a relationship, it prevents domestic abuse from ever being able to occur in the first place.