A wife, V, left her husband and went to live with her parents. D, her husband, forced his way into their home and attempted to rape V. HL ruled that the law no longer recognised the immunity of a husband from raping his wife and therefore he was guilty. There are a series of cases moving away from the idea in Clarence that a man cannot be guilty of raping his wife to the position that (once she has “ended the marriage contract” and has removed her consent) then it is possible for a man to rape his wife. Does this mean that unless the wife determines to end the marriage then she can still be raped?
