Marital Rape is the first book to examine rape in marriage as a global problem affecting millions of women. While legal and cultural conceptions of marital rape vary widely -- from criminal assault to wifely duty -- the authors document that forced sex undermines the physical and psychological well-being of women in all cultures.

Marital rape stands at the intersection of the socio-legal issues arising from both domestic violence and sexual assault. For centuries, women who suffered sexual assault perpetrated by their spouses had no legal recourse. A man's conjugal rights included his right to have sexual intercourse with his wife regardless of whether she consented. This right has been recognised in law, and still is in some jurisdictions today. This book emerges from the research undertaken by an innovative, multi-country, academic, collaborative project dedicated to comparatively analysing the legal treatment of sexual assault in intimate relationships, with a view to challenging the legal impunity for and inadequate legal responses to this form of gendered violence.

"This is a groundbreaking contribution to the literature of sexual assault and family violence." -- Susan Brownmiller "[Russell] has done a superb study which yields comprehensive and undeniable findings about a subject no one had even whispered about before... a classic work." -- Phyllis Chesler One out of seven American women who have ever been married has been raped by a husband or ex-husband. Written by the principal investigator for the National Institute of Mental Health study that discovered this shocking statistic, this book is a monumental, eye-opening work that dispels misinformation and illusions about a previously ignored aspect of family violence.

In our 20 years of campaigning to change the laws in 50 states, women often called to report their neglect by local agencies. Now, with the power given these women by Dr. Bergen′s excellent, definitive documentation, neither this issue nor these people can be neglected. --Laura X, National Clearinghouse on Marital and Date Rape "Raquel Kennedy Bergen′s impressive study challenges us to look seriously at a form of violence that has been largely ignored by researchers and practitioners alike. Wife Rape deepens our understanding of the devastating experience of marital rape. Further, the study illuminates the problems practitioners and activists face as they confront wife rape. Bergen′s important study promises to reopen the topic of wife rape. This book should be read by everyone involved in domestic violence research and intervention!" --Kersti Yllö, Ph.D., Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Wheaton College, Massachusetts Attending to a subject long-neglected by research and popular spheres, author Raquel Kennedy Bergen addresses the deep pain and humiliation of sexual assault suffered by countless numbers of women at the hands of their partners. Wife Rape lends voice to the personal testimonies of survivors and contrasts these stories with interviews of service providers, illustrating the lack of validation and insufficient assistance currently available to wife rape survivors. Offering insight and hope to survivors and providing critical information to service providers, this valuable volume helps readers better understand wife rape and the response of agencies to the problem. In addition, a special guide to service providers, a state law chart, and a list of organizations that provide information on rape make this book an important resource. Offering an essential check on the reality of Wife Rape, this timely and accessibly written volume is excellent reading for researchers, practitioners, policymakers, police officers, religious leaders, students, clients, and all those who would like to become better informed about this issue.

Real Housewives of New Jersey star Melissa Gorga shows you how to love your man and keep him happy, satisfied, faithful, and devoted to you. What you see is what you get with Melissa Gorga. On Real Housewives of New Jersey, she's that beautiful, ambitious woman with a successful career who puts her family first. In fact, her stable yet sexy marriage to lovable Joe is a welcome antidote to the constant fighting and backbiting on the show. Despite the pressure of life in the spotlight, she makes marriage look easy. How does she do it? Melissa's overriding principle: Treat your husband like a king! And in return, you'll be treated like a queen! In Love Italian Style, Melissa shares her (and his) secrets to relationship success—generations-tested old-fashioned values served up with a modern, sexy twist. To her, the four tenets to a happy marriage are respect, honesty, loyalty, and passion (underscore passion). By sharing her and Joe's life together—from the story of their first date to how they still keep it hot in the bedroom a decade later—Melissa admits that, yes, marriage has been a lot of work, but the rewards are ten-fold. With her time-tested strategies, you can "Gorganize" your own relationship, strengthen your bond, and amp up the passion for lifelong bliss. Some of Melissa's how-to's: · Dress to impress your man. · Flirt with your hubby. · Cook Italian style. · Fight right. · Keep the romance alive and the home fires burning. · Raise little princes and princesses. This playful guidebook promises to make any marriage better—the Gorga way!

DIVDIVSusan Brownmiller’s groundbreaking bestseller uncovers the culture of violence against women with a devastating exploration of the history of rape—now with a new preface by the author exposing the undercurrents of rape still present today/divDIV Rape, as author Susan Brownmiller proves in her startling and important book, is not about sex but about power, fear, and subjugation. For thousands of years, it has been viewed as an acceptable “spoil of war,” used as a weapon by invading armies to crush the will of the conquered. The act of rape against women has long been cloaked in lies and false justifications./divDIV It is ignored, tolerated, even encouraged by governments and military leaders, misunderstood by police and security organizations, freely employed by domineering husbands and lovers, downplayed by medical and legal professionals more inclined to “blame the victim,” and, perhaps most shockingly, accepted in supposedly civilized societies worldwide, including the United States./divDIV Against Our Will is a classic work that has been widely credited with changing prevailing attitudes about violence against women by awakening the public to the true and continuing tragedy of rape around the globe and throughout the ages./divDIV Selected by the New York Times Book Review as an Outstanding Book of the Year and included among the New York Public Library’s Books of the Century, Against Our Will remains an essential work of sociological and historical importance./divDIV/div/div