Relief filled the warm desert air two weeks ago when the Republicans and Democrats united to pass a bill providing much-needed assistance to abused women by modernizing one of Arizona's rape laws. The bill, SB 1040, called for spousal rape to be considered a Class 2 felony, making it equivalent to other types of rape.
The law currently characterizes spousal rape as a Class 6 felony. This puts spousal rape (which is just as much an act of sexual violence as all other rapes) in the same category as littering, failing to pay taxes on cigarettes, stealing cable and organizing dogfights. People convicted of this felony serve a maximum of a year and a half behind bars or as little as no jail time.
If spousal rape is considered equal to all other rapes then the convicted assailants would serve up to 10 years behind bars. The Legislature's mood of urgency and eagerness to pass such an imperative piece of legislation quickly dampened when the bill reached the Human Services Committee of the Arizona House.
It was there that Rep. Laura Knaperek, R-District 17 (the district in which ASU is located), cast the decisive vote to kill this bill. She did so as the only female legislator on the committee.
Knaperek and her four colleagues who voted against the bill need to step into the 21st century. Today, dignified marriage is not built on obedience, but rather on love and respect. Acts of sexual violence need not be protected under the term "marriage." Just because two people are married does not make rape less of a crime.
Today, we live in a society that considers marriage a consensual agreement, including the sexual aspects of that union. If sex is not consensual then it constitutes rape and the law needs to recognize that fact.
Knaperek's vote against increasing the punishment for convicted spousal rapists undermines 50 years of this state's progress, taking us back to a time when women still were legally expected to obey blindly even the most abusive husbands.
Voting against such legislation is an insult to every woman in Arizona and to the institution of marriage. The termination of this bill abandons the 28 percent of rape victims who are raped by husbands or boyfriends. Alarmingly, these victims tend to experience more violence and repeated offenses, yet they are less likely to report these abuses to authorities, Loyola University's The Phoenix reported. SB 1040 potentially could have helped to change these staggering statistics.
The members of the ASU community and of Legislative District 17 should not tolerate this behavior from their state representative. I urge you to write, e-mail or call Laura Knaperek and tell her that her voting record is unacceptable and a slap in the face to the women of Arizona.
This kind of action borders on making her a moral accomplice to the acts of sexual violence that occur within the boundaries of marriage every day. As a woman, I would like to know that if I found myself victim to sexual abuse, I would have the opportunity to appeal to the state of Arizona and send my attacker to prison rather than back home with just a slap on the wrist.
Stacy Hettmansperger is a political science freshman. Reach her at stacy.hettmansperger@asu.edu.
