ABSTRACT
Multidisciplinary violence research helps to recognize spectrum of sexual violence, which are more prevalent in quantity but often more difficult to observe. Neither victims nor courts of law had clear judicial opportunities for intervening in rapes or sexualized violence taking place within a marriage. Possibly some women who were subjected to sexual violence by their spouses occasionally tried to have their cases heard as assault – at least if they could present the material evidence demanded by the law, such as bruises. Claims of unpleasant remarks or non-consensual intercourse meant nothing in the court if the offender was their own spouse. Sexual and sexualized violence in intimate relationships must be seen as a wielding of power that was facilitated by the hegemonic nature of the relationship between the sexes. Technological developments give new dimensions to violence, now that slander has been transferred from the streets, pubs and school corridors also into social media.
