Arizona republicans tend to be pretty hard-core wingers, but
this just makes my blood boil:
Four Republicans united Thursday to kill legislation to say that the penalty for raping a spouse should be the same as assaulting anyone else.
The vote of the House Committee on Human Services came after foes said they feared boosting the penalty would provide incentives for a wife to charge rape.
"That's going to be much more likely to happen in a scenario where two people are normally having sexual relations and then, if one person decides for whatever reason that they would like to attack the other person this is a very serious way to get it done," said Rep. Mark Anderson, R-Mesa.
Right now, the penalty for rape in Arizona is up to 15 years in jail. But if you happen to be married to the person you rape, the harshest sentence you can get is 18 months in prison! And the judge can, if s/he wants, treat the crime as a misdemeanor and order the rapist to undergo counseling.
The bill passed the state senate by a 29-1 vote, but now it appears dead in the house of representatives.
Here's what another misogynistic GOP represenative had to say:
"When you enter into a marriage, you enter into a contract for all sorts of different things with your spouse," he said. And that, he said, includes of sex.
Nichols said those benefits "need to be eliminated" if someone is getting a divorce. But short of that, he said it is wrong to impose this kind of penalty when a wife charges rape.
"Why should we take it to a Class 2 felony and put a husband away who's been a good husband for however many years ... based off of something that was OK in a marriage up until that point?"
I'm right with you, Nichols. In fact, let's take it a step further. If someone who's been a good husband for years decide to kill his wife, why should it even be a crime? Aren't women the property of their husbands?
And a few facts (from Sexual Assault Services at George Mason University)
- Eighty-two percent of women raped or sexually assaulted in 1992-93 by a lone offender were victimized by a spouse, ex-spouse, partner, friend, acquaintance or relative. (Bachman and Saltzman, 1995)
- It is estimated that one out of every seven married women has been forced to have sex with her husband. (Rape in Marriage, Russell, D., 1990)
- Spousal rape is often more violent and repetitive than other rape, and it is less commonly reported. (Hampton, 1995)