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Spousal rape or marital rape is a phrase used to describe non-consensual sexual activity, when the perpetrator is the spouse of the victim. Like most types of sexual assault, it is usually committed by a man against a woman, in this case one who is -- at least in the eyes of the law -- his wife although possibly estranged or even legally separated.
Most U.S. states do not regard spousal rape as a crime, but can charge the victim's spouse with assault, battery, spousal abuse, etc.
Marriage usually exempts one from charges of statutory rape even if one of the spouses is under the age of consent in the jurisdiction where a sexual act takes place.Diana Russell, a researcher into the phenomenon of rape, reports that 8% of 900 randomly selected women reported they had been raped by a husband. A survey by the National Victim Center in Arlington, Virginia, states that 10% of all sexual assault cases reported by women involved a husband or ex-husband.