In Italy, Article 544 of the Penal Code also allowed rape to be canceled by marriage. This goes to the heart of the true meaning of consent, and what you are actually consenting to. According to Article 544 (made famous in the 1960s by Franca Viola, a girl who refused to marry the man who kidnapped and raped her), sexual violence is a crime against morality, not against a human. This meant it could be fixed by marriage. Just think—you could erase all the bad juju caused by rape by simply going to church and having a matrimonio riparatore with your rapist. The law was finally abolished in 1981.
