Marital rape exemption codified (jan 1, 1680 – jan 1, 1993)

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In much of the world rape was seen as a crime of theft of a man's property. Therefore, by definition a husband could not rape his wife. The view that a husband cannot be charged with the rape of his wife was described by Sir Matthew Hale (1609–1676) in History of the Pleas of the Crown where he wrote that "The husband cannot be guilty of a rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife, for by their mutual consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto her husband, which she cannot retract". The implication was that once unified by marriage, a spouse could no longer be charged with raping one's spouse, anymore than be charged with raping oneself.

Marital rape only became fully criminalized across the U.S. in 1993. Before 1974, marital rape was legal in every U.S. state.

https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1610&context=clevstlrev

https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/marital-rape-history-research-and-practice

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