It is a new dawn in Mauritius and a bad day for rapists after the country’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to criminalise marital rape, imposing harsh penalties on those convicted. With the new reforms, stronger safeguards are now guaranteed for people who have long been victims of sexual violence within marriage.
“We are refining the law, thereby ensuring that the most horrific and despicable crimes are punished for what they are,” the country’s Attorney General, Gavin Glover, told parliament last July.
The statistics are staggering. One in four women in Mauritius has experienced gender-based violence. In 2023, nine women were killed by their partners or former partners, while four more have died so far in 2026.
“The situation in Mauritius left us with no alternative but to introduce stronger laws to protect victims of domestic abuse. This is about the most brutal form of oppression there is: violence, rape, killing – and, more importantly, the place where it hides best, the family unit,” Glover said.
On July 21, the Mauritius parliament approved amendments addressing marital rape and femicide. Under the new law, the sentence for murder committed “in aggravating circumstances where the victim was, inter alia, subject to acts of domestic abuse” is now 15 years to life imprisonment. Marital rape carries a prison sentence of between 10 and 45 years.
Women’s rights organisations have praised the reforms, saying they will reassure victims that the justice system is listening and committed to protecting them.
“A 29-year-old victim came to our shelter a few weeks ago. She said her husband regularly forced her to have sex. She thought it was something normal, something she had to accept,” said Kashif Imambaccass, a legal adviser at Passerelle, an organisation that supports women affected by domestic violence and human trafficking.
“Rape is rape, and consent means the same thing inside a marriage as outside it. Marriage, civil or religious, is no longer a shield,” Glover said.
“If anyone has non-consensual sex with his lawful wedded wife, companion, partner or girlfriend, he can no longer tell the police, the prosecutor or the judge: ‘We are together, we live together, it’s normal.’ No, it’s not normal – it is, in fact, worse.”
The new law also clearly defines economic abuse and coercive control.
Glover has also announced an upcoming revision of the country’s legal definition of rape, moving towards a consent-based standard centred on affirmative consent.
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