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l believe the author abused
his privilege to inform the public by venturing to lecture readers on a
subject he apparently does not understand. It is advisable to seek advice
from experts in technical subjects before one puts pen to paper.
Mbulawa�s article was dangerously misleading to the unsuspecting
public, mischievously chauvinistic, patently shallow and displayed
unacceptable ignorance of the law and the Bible.
I can only
conclude that this Mbulawa Moyo is a remnant of the past, an unrepentant
merchant of patriarchy.
With all due respect, views expressed in
the article do not belong in a modern and democratic society.
First, the author simply dismisses the concept of marital rape as
nonsense without defining in legal terms what marital rape is.
He
gives the impression that since the offence is committed in the bedroom
and difficult to prove, then it should not be a crime. This reflects a
fundamental flaw in the author�s reasoning.
The author claims that
it is in terms of the Marriages Act (Chapter 5:11) that marital rape was
legislated. This is not correct. The relevant statute is Sexual Offences
Act (Chapter 9:21).
The Sexual Offences Act does not seek to
defile or debase the sanctity or holiness of matrimony. Rather, it seeks
to promote the purity of marriage.
In this era of the HIV/AIDS
scourge, it is only fit and proper that the right of women and men to
choose, and to say no, must be reaffirmed. Whoever said that people get
into marriage exclusively for sex?
Mbulawa argues that there is no
question of marital rape because the two are one flesh � a fundamentally
flawed assertion in my view because the oneness only comes when there is
mutual consent. Where there is no consent then either party must respect
the other�s right to say no. Sex is not a human right.
Marital
rape is where any person, when married to another person, without consent
of that person, with the male organ or any object, penetrates any part of
the other person�s body.
While persons in marriage are privileged
to exclusively share the fruits of matrimony, it must be clear that no man
or woman can demand conjugal services when the other party does not
consent.
It is shameful and irresponsible that one would want to
justify raping his wife by making irrelevant reference to the Bible about
women submitting to their husbands. A true Christian, and l am proud to
say l am one, should never seek to defile marriage by partaking of what
has not been freely given.
Days of marital rape belong to the
past. Today the Sexual Offences Act, perhaps the sweetest piece of
legislation in our society, will see to it that those who think they can
follow the diabolical demands of their desires at the expense of the
rights of others face the full wrath of the law.
One really
wonders why some people are disturbed by the concept of marital rape if
they are upright. It is only the guilty who abhor the arm of justice.
Women of the world and all men who respect justice must celebrate
the Sexual Offences Act as a piece of legislation that was long overdue in
Zimbabwe, and one of the very few pieces of legislation that are truly
democratic and relevant to Zimbabwe today.
Dewa Mavhinga,
Harare. |
