The original story headline at the Cincinnati Dispatch was "Ohio Republican: Bill to scrap spousal rape exception could create ‘wedge’ in marriages."
I think my headline is a bit more accurate.
And yes, I think it’s VERY important that we ensure that Bill Dean’s name is attached to his support of rape. He thought it important enough to publicly vote to defend rapists, after all.
Dean was the only lawmaker to oppose Ohio House Bill 161, which aims to "eliminate spousal exceptions for rape and other sex crimes." The legislation would remove "a provision in Ohio law that protects spouses from prosecution against rape, unless the perpetrator threatened force or the couple lives in separate homes. It also removes the marital exception for sexual battery and other sex crimes and allows spouses to testify against their partner in these cases." (Cincinnati Dispatch)
Once I knew a couple who had a large number of children.
It was only after that friendship had deteriorated that I learned one of the reasons they had so many kids: Even if she knew that she was likely to get pregnant, even if she told him no, he would insist on having sex with her.
That was the first time I’d personally heard about a husband forcing his wife to have sex.
It was not the last.
The stories I’ve personally heard sometimes feature threats, sometimes whining, and almost always some weaponized guilt. They all feature disregarding and trampling the boundaries and rights of women. {1}
According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, a third of rapes are committed by the person’s current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend. In the 2016-2017 National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, the most recent one available, almost 20% of women and 7.6% of men reported sexual violence by an intimate partner.
And to Bill Dean, none of them — at least if they’re married — actually are rape.
> Dean told a reporter, “I personally don’t believe that a man, if he’s married and has physical relations with his wife, that can be considered rape.” {2}
Dean was quick to use rapists as a scare tactic when fighting against reproductive rights, saying the (voter-approved) amendement’s "language is dangerously vague and unconstrained, and can be weaponized to attack parental rights or defend rapists, pedophiles, and human traffickers."
But when it came to actually doing something to fight against rapists, Bill Dean of Xenia Ohio, actually voted against it.
I keep thinking about the real, actual women I know who were raped. I think about them telling me they learned to just suffer it rather than fight back. How they learned nobody would help them. That some people would not even consider it rape, even when she said no.
And I think about Bill Dean, how he has ten children, and wonder what other times Bill Dean thinks rape is perfectly fine.
You can contact Bill Dean, rapist defender and Ohio State Representative, at
77 South High Street
Floor 12
Columbus, OH 43215
Phone: (614) 466-1470
{1} If you’re reading this and are wondering if I know what you did, if you’re wondering if I am talking about about you… well, thanks for proving that you know exactly what you did.
{2} Yes, the gendering he does here is pretty telling as well, isn’t it?