Marital rape is illegal in Minnesota because of her

This woman is a survivor of marital rape — and she just helped change her state’s laws to make sure perpetrators see justice.

Transcript

00:00My mom and I sat and cried as I discovered I had been drugged and raped by my husband.

00:05I was ready to go to work to make sure that no one in a similar situation

00:10hears, I'm sorry, the charges have been dropped.

00:14Two months after serving my husband divorce papers and preparing my affidavit for divorce,

00:30I was tasked with reviewing every photo and video from a copy of our family laptop computer.

00:37I came across two videos that forever changed my life.

00:46They were videos that my husband had recorded in our bed, New Year's morning 2016.

00:54My mouth is wide open and it is clear that I am unconscious.

01:01He starts to move the camera back down to my lower body

01:06and in that wider screenshot, my four-year-old son is laying next to me in bed.

01:15He came back an hour later and started recording again for a second time.

01:22He put not only my life in danger but was potentially exposing our son to something unthinkable.

01:27The worst part of that day was my mom was at my house when I discovered the rape videos.

01:33My mom and I sat and cried as I discovered I had been drugged and raped by my husband.

01:39In September 2017, I received a call from a victim witness specialist with the Anoka County

01:44Attorney's Office. She called to inform me that my former spouse had been formally charged with

01:50one count felony criminal sexual conduct in the third degree. Later that afternoon, just as I

01:57was ready to head down to the bus stop to get my kids off the school bus, I received a call from

02:01that same woman. I could tell there was a shakiness in her voice and she called to inform me that she

02:08had some news and she said she was at a loss of her words. But what she told me was life-changing.

02:15She explained that my former spouse's felony third degree criminal sexual assault charge was dropped

02:21because his criminal defense attorney made them aware at the county of a law on the Minnesota

02:28the county of a law on the Minnesota books that states a person cannot be charged with this crime

02:35if they were married at the time of the crime. She said the entire staff of attorneys in the office,

02:41the judge, sheriffs, no one knew that this law even existed.

02:48We were all shocked and she said this needs to be changed. I was devastated and scared.

02:56That night I struggled with the news I received. I watched some Harry Potter with my kids and by the

03:02next morning I was ready to go to work to make sure that no one in a similar situation

03:08hears I'm sorry the charges have been dropped.

03:12The accomplishment to this goes to Ginny for the persistence of making it happen.

03:17No longer will this antiquated and shameful law be on our books.