CA Senate Bill 258:

Justice for Disabled Spouses

Six disabled people of color smile and pose in front of a concrete wall. Five people stand in the back, with a Black woman in the center holding up a chalkboard sign reading "disabled and here." A South Asian person in a wheelchair sits in front.

Photo from Disabled And Here, taken by Chona Kasinger

What is
SB 258?

SB 258 closes a loophole in the California Penal Code that permits the rape of a spouse who is unable to consent due to a disability. The full text of the bill can be found on LegInfo.

The phrase "NOBODY SAYS 'I DO' FOR RAPE" appears in front of a shadowed frosted glass panel with an open hand in a "stop" position behind it.

The Issue

An estimated 1 in 10 women have experienced rape by a spouse. For disabled women, this number is likely higher, as disabled people are four times as likely to be sexually assaulted compared to their nondisabled counterparts (U.S. Bureau of Justice).

Under existing law, there is one distinction remaining between spousal and non-spousal rape. The legal definition of rape includes sexual intercourse with a person who is incapable of giving consent due to a “mental disorder or a developmental or physical disability,” but only when committed by a non-spouse. This leaves disabled people with less legal protection against intimate partner sexual violence when they are married than when they are unmarried.

SB 258 will remove this exception, making the protection of law equal for sexual assault survivors regardless of marital status between the perpetrator and the victim.

Rape is rape.