Marital rape conviction 'the tip of the iceberg'

WOMEN will be encouraged to come forward and report their partners after a man was yesterday convicted of raping his wife.

Rape Crisis Network Ireland welcomed the ruling, the first of its kind in the history of the State, but said it was only the tip of the iceberg.

A spokesperson said: “Ireland was one of the first countries to dispense with the marital bar. Sadly, the number of cases proceeded with doesn’t bear any relationship to the number of women who report to rape crisis centres of having been raped by their partners.”