Countries: Bahamas
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1

"[T]he law does not protect against spousal rape unless the couple is separated, in the process of divorce, or if there is a restraining order in place" (12).

Countries: Saudi Arabia
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1, LRCM-LAW-2, ATFPA-LAW-1

"Once married, a Saudi woman must obey her husband. She may not 'withhold herself' from her husband. She must breastfeed her children; this is a legal obligation owed to her husband." (Parag. 14)

Countries: Saudi Arabia
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1, LRCM-LAW-2, SAB-LAW-1

""Once married, a Saudi woman must obey her husband. She may not “withhold herself” from her husband. She must breastfeed her children; this is a legal obligation owed to her husband." (Parag. 14)

Countries: Nicaragua
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1

"Special Police Units for Women had been operating in Nicaragua since 1996 to support women, children and adolescents in situations of domestic and sexual violence. In 2006, this became a national specialism when the Directorate of the Special Police Unit for Women and Children was created (provision 023/06). In 2007, investigation, prevention, information and criminal analysis were enhanced. The work of the special units received national and international recognition in 2012. All psychologists have specialized as forensic psychologists and all social workers have received specialist training in social inquiry. The network of promoters and volunteers has been expanded, with 4,080 trained in prevention and victim support at 162 of the...more

Countries: United States
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1

"Kereen Odate, Acting Director at the Center for Women’s Development at Medgar Evers College in New York, says black women are reluctant to discuss sexual and domestic abuse for fear of 'vilifying the black man.'" (para 27). "Odate says there has always been something of an unexplored history of sexually dysfunctional behavior in the black community that dates back to slavery. For example, Odate cites mating practices that forced black male slaves to have intercourse with female slaves as the origin of shame that keeps black communities silence about domestic and sexual abuse to this very day. 'You were raped,' Odate says, 'but you weren’t raped because it was for...more

Countries: Egypt
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1

"The lack of progress made in ensuring that gender-based violence against women in the domestic sphere and marital rape are explicitly criminalized in national legislation" (6).

Countries: Nepal
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1, LRCM-PRACTICE-2

"The continuous hearing provision of the District Court Rules, 1996, has been effectively implemented since 2013 to ensure speedy justice in cases of women victims and survivors of violence. Guidelines on in-camera hearing and maintaining confidentiality of the victims of violence has been formulated and the justice sector actors have been trained on effective implementation of such Guidelines. Similarly, case flow management, calendar based court proceedings, mobilization of specific task force for the enforcement of Supreme Court judgments are some strategic interventions of the judiciary to enhance the access to justice." (9). "Significant efforts to build national capacity to respond violence against women have been bringing encouraging results so far....more

Countries: Nepal
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1

"It is not just the statute of limitations that needs to change, according to campaigners. The definition of rape in Nepal’s penal code only recognises a crime committed by a male against a female, and not against people of other genders. Nonconsensual sexual acts are not included within the definition of rape, and marital rape receives a lesser punishment" (Para.10).

Countries: Namibia
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1

Table 1 produced by the Office of the Judiciary breaksdown the quantity of magistrates and their respective courts along side the number of periodical courts throughout the country. There are approximately 34 magistrate courts with 89 magistrates controlling them with another 37 periodocial courts, but even with these numbers, the government of Namibia acknowledges that there has been no official survey into whether or not the large number of courts available actually lowers the barriers that women face when reporting crimes (11). "The state party enacted the Witness Protection Act 11 of 2017 in early 2018 to adequately protect witnesses who testify against persons accused of violence against women among...more

Countries: Nigeria
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1

"While many of the affected girls as young as age 4 got married to men old enough to be their grandfathers, others were forcefully raped by their new husbands and got pregnant before becoming teenagers" (para 5).

Countries: East Timor
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1

"Although marital rape or incest are not covered by specific provisions, family relationship – including de facto unions – is constituting of an aggravating factor in cases sexual aggression (art. 173 and art. 182 of the Penal Code), raising the minimum and maximum sentence incurred" (16). "Despite these provisions, the sexual violence reporting rate remains low and the prosecution of rape within marriage is nearly inexistent in practice83 mainly due to the absence of reporting by victims" (16).

Countries: Latvia
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1

"Because the Ministry of Justice does not distinguish between spousal rape and nonspousal rape cases, whether any spousal rape case has been prosecuted was hard to determine" (12).

Countries: Mauritania
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1

"Rape, including spousal rape, is illegal. Rapists who are single men face penalties of imprisonment, forced labor, and whipping, and married rapists are subject to the death penalty, although this penalty has not been enforced since 1987. The government regularly enforced the law; 50 persons were charged and about one-half of them were sentenced to between five to 10 years’ imprisonment" (15).

Countries: Belize
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1, DV-LAW-2

"Domestic violence was often prosecuted with charges such as harm, wounding, grievous harm, rape, and marital rape, but allegations of domestic violence were treated as civil matters. Police, prosecutors, and judges recognized both physical violence and mental injury as evidence of domestic violence. Penalties include fines or imprisonment for violations. The law empowers the Family Court to issue protection orders against accused offenders" (11).

Countries: Somalia
Variables: LRCM-PRACTICE-1

"While the sexual offenses law was passed in Puntland, 'the cases of rape have appear to spike.' Clearly showing no enforcement. According to Mohamed, 'the lesson from the sad story of Puntland’s Sexual Offenses Act is that while formal laws can be vital in influencing attitudes, attitudes and behavior also influence how a law is enforced.' The passage of the law was a great start. But what the past year has made clear is that we also need to start changing attitudes in Puntland and the region more broadly, or else these much celebrated legal advances for women will be rendered meaningless" (para 3, 14).