Spousal Rape Case Sparks Old Debate

From a legal standpoint, this is thorny. I agree that the standard should be higher. This is because, absent violence, whether or not the alleged victim gave or manifested consent is the issue. And in a marital context, that is going to be trickier than tricky because a) there is already an expectation, societal and otherwise, that these two will be engaging and/or have engaged in sexual congress (which expectation is not there for unmarried "couples") and b) in a good number of marriages, a) means that the husband is not looking for, expecting, or in any other way cognizant of the manifestation of assent for sex. Put simply, a man who waits for his wife to say, "yes, Bill, I now consent to have sex with you" before each instance of sex, is one structure-craving-loony. In marriage, even good ones (heck, especially good ones), sex is sometimes spontaneous, with none of the accoutrements that accompany sex with a non-spouse.

That said, if your marriage has come to a point that your wife is pressing charges for rape, you might want to start noticing a few more of those accoutrements.