Wellesley Centers for Women says this about marital rape: "Diana Russell (a prominent rape researcher) interviewed over 900 randomly selected women and found that, while 3% had experienced completed rape by a stranger, 8% had experienced completed rape by a husband. Wife rape was the most common type of completed rape reported. These numbers are calculated on all women, including those who haven't ever been married. If you only count women who have been married, 14% - or one in every seven married women - reported either a completed or attempted rape by a husband/ex-husband" (2001, <http://www.wellesley.edu/WCW/projects/mrape.html). I don't know if studies cited above are sound (the curious should visit the WCW Web site, get citations, and look into them), but let's assume they are, for the sake of argument.
If we are to pursue justice for all marital rape victims rigorously, we might have to identify and lock up all marital rapists, roughly one in seven men who have ever married (excluding for the moment the fact that some men are probably raping more than one wife in the course of serial marriages, to facilitate our back-of-a-napkin calculation, since we do not have stats on serial marital rapists).
BTW, most alleged offenders of any kind of crime (estimates based on victim surveys) are never caught and convicted:
<blockquote>According to latest statistics (derived from figures 25-30 covering 1994 in the United States, 1995 in England), the likelihood of conviction was about --
* 50% for murder in both countries * 20% for rape in the United States and 10% in England * 2% for robbery in the United States and less than 1% in England * 2% for assault in the United States and 1% in England * 1% for burglary in the United States and less than 1% in England * 2% for motor vehicle theft in the United States and 1% in England.
However, these estimates must be interpreted cautiously. For example, the rape conviction likelihood is inflated because it is based on the number of convictions divided not by the total number of rapes but by just the number recorded by police. ("Convictions per 1,000 Offenders," Crime and Justice in the United States and in England and Wales, 1981-96, <http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/html/cjusew96/cpo.htm>)</blockquote>
Large as American prisons are, America catching and convicting more alleged offenders -- including rapists -- than England*, America still has a long way to go to satisfy all supporters -- including feminist supporters -- of law and order.
<blockquote>According to latest conviction figures (1994 in the United States, 1995 in England) --
* with the exception of murder, a person committing a crime in the United States is more likely to be caught and convicted than one committing crime in England (including Wales).
The number of persons convicted in 1994 of --
* murder for every 1,000 alleged murderers was 487 in the United States and 555 in England, indicating that a murderer's risk of conviction is slightly greater in England than in the United States (figure 25)
* rape for every 1,000 alleged rapists was 188 in the United States and 100 in England, indicating that a rapist's risk of conviction in the United States is nearly double that in England (figure 26)
* robbery for every 1,000 alleged robbers was 22 in the United States and 6 in England, indicating that a robber's risk of conviction in the United States is nearly four times that in England (figure 27)
* assault for every 1,000 alleged assaulters was 25 in the United States and 14 in England, indicating that an assaulter's risk of conviction in the United States is nearly double that in England (figure 28)
* burglary for every 1,000 alleged burglars was 14 in the United States and 6 in England, indicating that a burglar's risk of conviction in the United States is more than double that in England (figure 29)
* motor vehicle theft for every 1,000 alleged vehicle thieves was 18 in the United States and 12 in England, indicating that a vehicle thief's risk of conviction is 50% greater in the United States than in England (figure 30). ("Convictions per 1,000 Offenders," Crime and Justice in the United States and in England and Wales, 1981-96, <http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/html/cjusew96/cpo.htm>)</blockquote>
If we are to lock up all offenders to all victims and their advocates' satisfaction, we'll need even more prisons than we have now -- though we already have the world's biggest prison system, with about 2.1 million people incarcerated at any time (Matthew Davis, "The World's Biggest Prison System," 7 April 2006, <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4858580.stm>) -- and no doubt we'll go bankrupt while we are making efforts to do so, but let justice be done, though the world perish.
* But most agree that America is less safe -- for women as well as men -- than England, despite America's higher conviction rates. -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>