Sexual violence in marriage and intimate relationships: synthetic view about Macedonia

Violence against women, including sexual violence, is one of the most serious forms of violation of human rights - the right to life, the right to physical and mental integrity, the right of equal protection and the right to protection from all forms of discrimination. Following the preliminary knowledge of the frequentness of sexual violence in marriage and intimate relationships, which because of its sensitive nature is rarely reported and even harder to prove, the purpose of this work is, through a discursive analysis of the social context and structures in which it manifests itself, to penetrate deep into the roots of this form of violence, which can not be treated as a private issue of intimate partners. Also, through the analysis of the legislation in the Republic of Macedonia, as well as the existing mechanisms and the concrete measures taken, this work should also show what has been done and what needs to be done in terms of dealing with this form of gender-based violence. Keywords: sexual violence, marriage, intimate relationships, patriarchate, gender stereotypes.