A comment from a Trump Organization lawyer set off a national conversation about whether a person can be raped by a spouse.
In a Daily Beast interview published July 27, 2015, Michael Cohen, special counsel at the Trump Organization, was asked about a claim made by Donald Trump’s first wife, Ivana Trump, in a divorce deposition years earlier. Cohen told the outlet that, by definition, you cannot rape your spouse. The Trump campaign has said the accusation is old and never happened. Ivana Trump later issued a statement walking back the claim and saying the story was without merit.
Cohen apologized the following day, calling his remarks inarticulate and saying he does not believe what he said. The campaign also distanced itself from his comments.
Contributor Niko shared a perspective on why the exchange struck a nerve. The idea that marriage gives one partner automatic access to the other’s body is an old one, and it is tied to outdated views of wedding vows and submission. Niko argued that consent does not disappear at the altar, and that a person can withdraw consent at any time, married or not. She noted that she informally asked friends and followers what they thought, and the answers were mixed, which she said shows how far the conversation still has to go. That was a casual conversation and not a scientific study.
The law has a history here too. In 1978, an Oregon man named John Rideout became one of the first husbands in the country to be prosecuted for raping his wife. He was found not guilty. Since then, every state has made marital rape a crime, although some states still handle it differently from other sexual assault cases.
The bottom line is simple. Rape is sex against a person’s will, and being married does not change that. No means no, even if it’s your spouse.
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