Marital Rape

Victim

Although perpetrators are always responsible for all acts of MR, several factors have been identified that place women at higher risk to experience MR. The only demographic factors that are generally related to MR are being younger and living in a rural location; race, income, and education are generally unrelated to MR victimization. Health status (e.g., pregnancy, being ill, or recently released from the hospital) may also render women more vulnerable to experience MR. Moreover, some research shows that women who experience violence in their family of origin are more likely to experience MR than are women who do not experience violence in childhood. A possible explanation is that women abused in childhood develop tolerance for mistreatment and are thus more likely to enter into and remain in abusive relationships. An additional risk factor is recent separation or divorce from one's husband. Indeed, research suggests that the most violent and lethal abuse often occurs during or shortly after a woman leaves her abuser.

Perpetrator

Demographic factors are poor predictors of perpetrating MR, with the exception of employment status (i.e., unemployed husbands are generally more likely to perpetrate MR). Although the research evidence is mixed, some studies find that family-of-origin violence increases men's risk to perpetrate MR. Additional risk factors for perpetrating MR include substance use, perpetration of other forms of domestic violence (e.g., physical, psychological), exaggerated masculine behavior (e.g., physical strength), and certain coercive or violent sexual beliefs and preferences.

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