European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 3, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Marital rape the drive for tougher Laws by . Barden new York times month after Rosanna Hawkins filed Lor divorce in Michigan in 1981, her estranged husband broke Inlo the House where she was staying and in More than an hour of whal she said was total terror raped her. Her husband Eugene who had been armed with a six Inch knife was convicted in Oceana county circuit court in 1982 and sentenced o 27 years to92 years in prison. Last february however the Michigan court of appeals voted 3-0 to overturn the conviction. The court ruled that legally speaking Hawkins could not have been raped by tier husband because in Michigan it is not a crime for a Man to sexually assault his wife unless they Are living apart and one has filed for divorce. And Hawkins divorce filing was no valid because Michigan requires thai a person be a resident for at least six months in order to tile for a divorce Hawkins had moved Back to the state Only a week before she filed. The appellate court s opinion has made Michigan the most renowned Battleground today in the drive by women s groups against state Laws that they say subject some wives to humiliation pain injury and emotional turmoil the Laws prohibit husbands irom being prosecuted for sexually assaulting their wives or set severe limits for Pursuit of such prosecution. Ii is a Bailie the women Are winning but the victories have not always been total and triumphs Are sometimes gained Only after a particularly outrageous sexual attack on a wife by her husband. It is now a crime in 25 states Foi a husband 1o rape his Wile while the two Are living together in 1975, South Dakota became the first slate to make the rape of a spouse a crime. Nationally com 1978 through june 1985, the last year Lor which figures Are available. 118 husbands were prosecuted on charges of raping heir wives and 104 of them convicted according to the National Clearinghouse on marital and Date rape a research and consulting organization in Berkeley Calif. In new York new Jersey and Connecticut a husband can be prosecuted without restrictions for raping his Vii. In Michigan he supreme court is now considering the state s Appeal to reinstate the Hawkins conviction. Attorney general Frank a Kelley has argued thai the martial restriction in the state s rape Law is unconstitutional because it violates the equal projection provisions Lor wives and treats some married persons differently from when Rosanna Hawkins who took Back her family name Coonc after her subsequent divorce Learned thai her former husband s conviction had been reversed she thought he would be freed immediately. I went Back on the nerve pills therapy the whole Cook said in a recent Telephone interview. I thought he is watch the Housa Lor a while and break in. He fold my sister thai he had watched the House for three Days before breaking Hawkins is still in prison unable to meet he $250,000 bail set by the trial court judge. In setting the bail a court source said the judge look a previous conviction for a sexual offence Inlo consideration. His former wife says she still believes the Legal system has Lei her Down. Sho initially did what the Law says do and she went through a trial and this waa traumatic said Cathy Wall Vangill a psychotherapist who is now counselling Cook. There is a lot of unresolved anger with any rape victim and men when the Law turns around and says she is not a victim it is extremely in lha interview Cook said hat Afler she returned to Michigan she moved in with her Sisler whom Hawkins locked in a bedroom during the assault. Cook Wen on i was scared i . 1 did a lot of praying that he would t Hurt my Lille Sisler or kill she told of spending three months in a Hospital for her emotional problems and of additional weeks in psychotherapy before she was Able 1o Start leading a Normal life with her tour daughters. The youngest. Triple 10, is of Hawkins while the three others Are children of Cook s previous marriage. The plight of Cook and Many other wives is evidence that the reason behind the drive for changes in the Laws on marital rape goes far beyond personal Freedom. David Adams director of emerge a Boston group that is one of the nation s Pioneer counselling services for men who beat their wives said. I think rape is definitely involved with men who Bailer but we Lind that not much More than 15 percent admit to forced Adama who favors stronger spousal rape Laws said i think jailing can be very thera pulic because one i is a consequence and men will look at something if they get caught and two it is a Sale men from the Public thai it is wrong it is not just private behaviour it is a crime against society David Finkelhor the associate director of the family violence research program at the University of new Hampshire who is co author of a Book on marital rape said of sexual abuse by husbands these Are brutal acts that Are most often commit led out of anger or Power with the idea to humiliate demean or degrade the studies by the research program have found thai one out of 10 wives has been sexually assaulted at least once by her husband. As for Why Many women remain in these relationships Finkelhor said they slay because there is affliction and love and positive feeling because people s relationships Are built out of a great Many experiences and people have Many years invested in a marriage. Or wives believe their husbands will change. For some it s a Case of being an economic hardship in Michigan a coalition of women s groups supporting the attorney general s arguments tiled an affidavit from a sexually abused wife married since 1973 with an 11-year-old daughter who said since the birth of my child i have been forced More than 40 times by my husband to engage in sexual acts thai caused me a lol of physical pain and that i eel Are degrading and demeaning to Moas a person Alt Murt i have filed for divorce my husband refuses to move out of our House. I have very Liolla income of my own and cannot leave my Home. My understanding of the Law is that ii he should Force himself on me now even Hough i have filed for divorce he could not be prosecuted for Hia drives forc Tangai in marital rape Laws Are under Way in a number of slates including Rhode Island. South Carolina Texas Nevada North Carolina Maryland Missouri and Tennessee. State organizations Are frequently assisted with information and in court arguments by the National Center on women and family Law a federally financed organization in Manhattan assisting women who Are poor their lawyers and their advocates the Center Lor constitutional rights a civil rights litigation and educational organization also in Manhattan and the National Clearinghouse on marital and Date rape. Laurie Woods the executive director of the National Center on women and family Law said our position is very simple in every stale whatever your Law says rape a we Don t want any exceptions made for the wife or the eight Alalea have made spousal rape a crime wives Are subject to prosecution Loo since december 1984, when new York s highest court the court of appeals unanimously struck Down the marital exemption in the state s rape Law As unconstitutional because it violated a wife s guarantee of equal Protection. In Virginia however the supreme court ruled thai the slate could prosecute a husband Lor raping his wife Only if she had made it Clear beyond a reasonable doubt that she wanted to end the marriage. The notoriety of the Case involved in that decision led the Virginia legislature to change the Law. The facts of the husband s conduct in the Case were not in dispute according to the trial judge who said he kicked in a locked door and knocked out its irame 10 gain Access into the apartment occupied by the wife and infant son. His physical assault and personal violence upon his wife is recited in detail and it occurred without question. Her struggle to tha uttermost trying to avoid being ravished by him but to no Avail is oven admitted by the less than a year after the state s top court overturned the guilty verdict against the husband the Virginia legislature voted to make spousal rape a crime when a couple Are living together although the punishment is less severe or it May involve counselling. But if there is injury or lha court a ase living apart the punishment can be the same As in rape outside of marriage. Erma Bumbeck it is impossible these Days to Tell How old anyone is. Bodies Are nipped lifted tucked folded Bent and spindled until half the female population goes to sleep at night with a surprised look on their faces. There is Only one source left to reveal just How Long in the tooth we Are the hands. I Don t care if your face looks like the Bottom of a Newborn your Mother s hands Are dangling irom your sweater sleeve Are attached to your Arm As you drive and hoist a Glass of while wine to your lips. There is no magic elixir for the hands that have had rings slipped on and Oil of them flushed diapers in the commode mixed meat loaf played Pally cake were wrung Al 2 am. When the kids had the car out and Felt feverish Heads. There is no retardant for the aging process Tor those appendages that have been Page 16 the stars and stripes bleached by detergents chapped by the cold scratched from Rose Bushes and suffered the Burns of a thousand Saucepan handles. You earned pm sweetie they re yours. In a Way it s Good to have a Point of reference. Without hem we d never know How much we have lived and How hard in was doing Lime they re the Bas Relief map of life so to speak. It s probably the Only part of Elizabeth Taylor left Over irom National velvet. If we did t have hands to remind us of How Many Winters we had lived we d look in the Mirror and kill ourselves trying to go around again. When a Chin Falls and bruises our Knees who is the first to pick it up our hands. When we have the bags removed from under our eyes but our body can t stay awake beyond 9 Ifo. Who pries out eyes open our hands that s who. They steady us when we think we wednesday june 3.1987 look Good enough to run marathons. They pull Down the shades when the lights Are too Bright. When we re attracted to men 30 years our Junior they Point out that we have a cookie Sheet bought the same year Mickey Rooney entered show business i be known a few friends who have not been amused to sit and connect liver spots on their hands and have had the spots removed. They be anointed thai hands with creams and lotions and basted them in oils but they is ill look like the hide of a dying elephant. A s like my Mother once told me when i was a teen Ager looking in the Mirror and assessing what i had going for me. She said there Are some things we can t do much about. Jus t be neat and clean and develop your c los angolan times
