Marital rape which were early to criminalize marital rape include the Soviet Union (1922), Poland (1932), Czechoslovakia (1950), some other members of the Communist Bloc, Sweden (1965), and Norway (1971). Slovenia, then a republic within federal Yugoslavia, criminalized marital rape in 1977. The Israeli Supreme Court affirmed that marital rape is a crime in a 1980 decision, citing law based on the Talmud (at least 6th century). Criminalization in Australia began with the state of New South Wales in 1981, followed by all other states from 1985 to 1992. Several formerly British-ruled countries followed suit: Canada (1983), New Zealand (1985), and Ireland
Marital rape (United States law) withdrawn in all states by 1993 or been declared judicially to be unconstitutional, in only 17 states was marital rape treated the same as non-marital rape. In the other states there continued to be significant differences in the way marital and non-marital rape were treated, such as less severe penalties, or excluding situations where no violence is used, or shorter reporting periods. During the 1990s many states differentiated between three categories of victims: In the 1990s and beyond, feminists, women's and other organizations have continued to lobby for the amendment of marital rape laws to ensure marital rape is regarded