MANILA, Philippines – Sex without consent can send husbands to jail when they force their wives into sex, the dean of the Lyceum of the Philippines University College of Law said Monday.
In an interview on TeleRadyo Serbisyo, lawyer Ma. Soledad Mawis said if a husband forcibly advances his desires to his wife without her consenting to the act of sex is criminally liable for marital rape as well as violation of the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004.
“Kung ayaw makipagtalik ng asawang babae, hinding-hindi siya pwedeng pwersahin,” she said.
She claimed that marriage does not make any man own a woman and that a woman has the right to reserve her consent when she feels so.
“Ang babae hindi pagmamay-ari ng lalaki…May karapatan ang babae nq magsabi ng hindi.” she said.
“If the woman does not want to, that’s it…She is a human being who has the right to discern and say no,” she said.
In fact, Mawis said, the Supreme Court has already ruled on the issue of marital rape in People of the Philippines vs Edgar Jumawan wherein the accused husband was charged guilty of raping his wife twice.
The Supreme Court sentenced the husband guilty for raping his wife twice on October 16 and 17, 1998. He was sentenced to reclusion perpetua for count of rape.
Over the past few days, Sen. Robin Padilla hogged the headlines for his remarks on legal remedies to sexual urges of husbands who have legal rights to exercise the act with their wives.
Padilla has already apologized to those who may have been affected by his remarks.
