Sacred Bonds, Silent Pain: Understanding Women’s Perceptions and Experiences of Marital Rape in Egypt

Abstract Purpose The study aims to highlight women’s perceptions, experiences and coping with marital rape as a taboo phenomenon in Egypt, a central Arab and Muslim-majority country where the legal system does not criminalize marital rape where current domestic violence laws are limited to physical abuse. As the first study to focus on this issue in this specific social and geographic context, it challenges reductionist narratives and fosters a deeper understanding of the complexities inherent in gendered relations, particularly sexual violence within marriage. Methods The data is based on semi-structured interviews with 15 well-educated Egyptian women who self-identified as being in a sexually abusive marital relationship for at least one year and aged between 24 and 47 years. Results Six major themes emerged: (1) “rape or right?”: women’s perceptions of marital sex; (2) marital sexual violence not viewed as grounds for divorce; (3) physical, psychological, and emotional consequences; (4) the weaponization of marital rape; (5) coping strategies during and after abuse; and (6) societal normalization of marital rape. Conclusion The findings reveal how gendered power dynamics within marriage minimize and normalize sexual violence, with serious implications for women’s mental and physical well-being. Such dynamics reinforce hierarchical structures and cycles of abuse. Understanding these tensions is critical for challenging the societal, cultural, economic, and legal norms that sustain marital rape in Egypt and, potentially, across broader Arab contexts.