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
Rape in English law give effect to the Report of the Advisory Group on the Law of Rape (Cmnd 6352) and to the opinions expressed by the House of Lords in DPP v. Morgan. It read: In "R v R" it was held that the word "unlawful" in that section did not exclude "marital rape" (see Marital rape#England and Wales). Section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 was substituted on the 3 November 1994 by section 142 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, providing a new and broader definition: The effect of this was to make what is termed male