When Did Marital Rape Become a Crime?
The fight to recognize consent within marriage challenged laws that protected husbands from prosecution, transforming the legal understanding of sexual violence and women’s autonomy.
Women worth knowing
All Stories
Extraordinary women, overlooked stories, and a more complete history. Explore the lives, ideas, and achievements that changed the world.
across eras
Ideas, movements and legal histories explored across several historical periods.
“Pleading the Belly”: Pregnancy & Execution
Pregnancy could postpone a woman’s execution under common law, creating a route to survival that exposed the complicated relationship between reproductive status and criminal justice.
The Doctrine of Separate Spheres: Why a Woman’s Place Was In the Home
The belief that women belonged at home shaped work, politics, and family life, embedding expectations that continued to influence society as women fought for equality.
The Law Of Coverture: Why Call A Woman By Her Husbands Name?
Addressing a wife by her husband’s name reflects a legal tradition that erased her separate identity, restricting control over her property, earnings, and future.