View source for Adultery

{{short description|Type of extramarital sex}}
{{About|the act of adultery or extramarital sex|other uses|Adultery (disambiguation)|a broad overview|Religion and sexuality}}
{{pp-pc}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}
[[File:Isaac Cruikshank - The Cuckold Departs for the Hunt - B2001.2.769 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg|thumb|Illustration depicting an adulterous wife, circa 1800]]
{{Sex and the law}}{{Family law}}
'''Adultery''' is generally defined as [[extramarital sex]] that is or was considered objectionable on social, religious and moral grounds, and which often resulted in legal consequences. Although the [[sexual activities]] that can be described as adultery vary, as well as their consequences, the concept is found in many cultures and shares similarities in [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Adultery |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/6618/adultery |access-date=12 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225033808/https://www.britannica.com/topic/adultery |archive-date=25 December 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Adultery was and continues to be viewed by many societies as offensive to public morals, and as undermining the "marital" relationship.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sweeny |first1=JoAnn |date=2014 |title=Undead Statutes: The Rise, Fall, and Continuing Uses of Adultery and Fornication Criminal Laws |url=https://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/law/students/publications/llj/pdfs/vol46/Sweeny.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114200744/https://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/law/students/publications/llj/pdfs/vol46/Sweeny.pdf |archive-date=2014-11-14 |journal=Loyola University of Chicago Law Journal |volume=46 |issue=1 |page=127 |ssrn=2836956 |via=Loyola University Chicago}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Weinstein |first1=Jeremy D. |date=1986 |title=Adultery, Law, and the State: A History |url=https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal/vol38/iss1/3/ |journal=[[Hastings Law Journal]] |volume=38 |issue=1 |page=195 |via=University of California College of the Law, San Francisco Scholarship Repository}}</ref>

[[Historically]], many cultures considered adultery a [[sin]] and a very serious [[crime]], sometimes subject to severe penalties, usually for the woman and sometimes for the man, with penalties including [[capital punishment]], [[mutilation]], or [[torture]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite book |last=Morgan |first=Hector Davies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mt0TAAAAIAAJ |title=The Doctrine and Law of Marriage, Adultery, and Divorce: Exhibiting a Theological and Practical View... |date=1826 |publisher=W. Baxter |language=en}}</ref> In most [[Western countries]] during the 19th century, most direct criminal penalties have fallen into disfavor. Since the 20th century, [[Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007|criminal laws]] against adultery have become controversial, with most Western countries repealing adultery laws. In countries where adultery is still a criminal offense, punishments range from a [[fine (penalty)|fine]] to [[caning]] and even capital punishment.<ref name="The Age">{{cite web |last=Bachelard |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Bachelard |date=6 May 2014 |title=Aceh woman, gang-raped by vigilantes for alleged adultery, now to be flogged |url=http://www.theage.com.au/world/aceh-woman-gangraped-by-vigilantes-for-alleged-adultery-now-to-be-flogged-20140507-zr5x3.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508021350/http://www.theage.com.au/world/aceh-woman-gangraped-by-vigilantes-for-alleged-adultery-now-to-be-flogged-20140507-zr5x3.html |archive-date=8 May 2014 |access-date=7 May 2014 |work=The Age}}</ref>

Even in jurisdictions that have repealed adultery laws, adultery may still have legal consequences. For example, in jurisdictions with fault-based [[divorce]] laws adultery almost always constitutes a [[grounds for divorce|ground for divorce]] and in some jurisdictions it may be considered in relation to [[child custody|custody of children]]. Even in jurisdictions with no-fault divorce, adultery may still be a factor in [[property settlement]] and the award or denial of [[alimony]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ellman |first1=Mark I. |title=The Place of Fault in a Modern Divorce Law |journal=Arizona State Law Journal |date=1996 |volume=28 |page=773}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bennett |first1=Barbara W. |last2=Bartlett |first2=Katharine T. |title=Sex, Lies, and Dissipation: The Discourse of Fault in a No-Fault Era |journal=Georgetown Law Journal |date=1993 |volume=82 |page=2525}}</ref>

International organizations have called for the repeal of adultery laws,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-06-02 |title=Morocco: Prison Terms for Adultery {{!}} Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/06/02/morocco-prison-terms-adultery |access-date=2025-04-25 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Decriminalization of adultery and defenses |url=https://endvawnow.org/en/articles/738-decriminalization-of-adultery-and-defenses.html |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=endvawnow.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-05 |title=Decriminalizing Adultery in South Sudan |url=https://equalitynow.org/news_and_insights/decriminalizing-adultery-in-south-sudan/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Equality Now |language=en-US}}</ref> especially in the light of several high-profile [[stoning]] cases that took place in some countries.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Popalzai |first=Jethro Mullen, Masoud |date=2015-11-04 |title=Woman stoned to death in Afghanistan over accusation of adultery |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/04/asia/afghanistan-taliban-woman-stoning/index.html |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2015-12-23 |title=Saudi Arabia 'spares' Sri Lankan maid in adultery case |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35166951 |access-date=2025-04-25 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> The head of the United Nations expert body charged with identifying ways to eliminate laws that discriminate against women or are discriminatory to them in terms of implementation or impact, [[Kamala Chandrakirana]], has stated that: "Adultery must not be classified as a criminal offence at all".<ref name="Ipsnews.net">{{cite web |last=Deen |first=Thalif |date=24 October 2012 |title=Adultery Laws Unfairly Target Women, U.N. Says |url=http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/10/adultery-laws-unfairly-target-women-u-n-says/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002033054/http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/10/adultery-laws-unfairly-target-women-u-n-says/ |archive-date=2 October 2013 |access-date=28 September 2013 |publisher=Inter Press Service}}</ref> A joint statement by the United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice states that: "Adultery as a criminal offence violates women's human rights".<ref name="DisplayNews">{{cite web |date=18 October 2012 |title=Joint Statement by the United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice |url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12672&LangID=E |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219013548/http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12672&LangID=E |archive-date=19 December 2013 |access-date=28 September 2013 |publisher=[[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]]}}</ref>

In Muslim countries that follow [[Sharia law]] for criminal justice, the punishment for adultery may be stoning.<ref name="Punishment for adultery in Islam">{{cite web |last=Robinson |first=B.A. |date=Sep 1, 2002 |title=Punishment for adultery in Islam |url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/isl_adul2.htm |url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109132329/http://www.religioustolerance.org/isl_adul2.htm |archive-date=9 January 2015 |access-date=26 February 2015 |publisher=[[Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance]]}}</ref> There are fifteen<ref name="Thomson Reuters Foundation">{{cite web |author=Batha |first1=Emma |last2=Li |first2=Ye |date=Sep 29, 2013 |title=Infographic: Stoning - where is it legal? |url=http://www.trust.org/item/20130927160132-qt52c/ |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140127195029/http://www.trust.org/item/20130927160132-qt52c |archive-date=27 January 2014 |access-date=26 February 2015 |publisher=Thomson Reuters Foundation}}</ref> countries in which stoning is authorized as lawful punishment, though in recent times it has been legally carried out only in Iran and Somalia.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |author=Redpath |first=Rhiannon |date=16 October 2013 |title=Women Around the World Are Being Stoned to Death. Do You Know the Facts? |url=http://mic.com/articles/68431/women-around-the-world-are-being-stoned-to-death-do-you-know-the-facts |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226194220/http://mic.com/articles/68431/women-around-the-world-are-being-stoned-to-death-do-you-know-the-facts |archive-date=26 February 2015 |access-date=26 February 2015 |publisher=Mic}}</ref> Most countries where adultery is a crime are those where the dominant religion is Islam, and several [[Sub-Saharan Africa]]n Christian-majority countries, but also in the Philippines and several U.S. states. In some jurisdictions, having sexual relations with the king's wife or the wife of his eldest son constitutes [[treason]].<ref>See, for example, [[Treason Act 1351]] which still applies.</ref>

==Overview==
[[File:Punition des cocus voluntaires a Venise.jpg|thumb|Public punishment of adulterers in Venice, 17th century]]
[[File:Susana_acusada_de_adulterio_(Antoine_Coypel).jpg|thumb|''Susannah accused of adultery'', by [[Antoine Coypel]]]]
[[File:Jules Arsène Garnier - Le supplice des adultères.jpg|thumb|''Le supplice des adultères'', by Jules Arsène Garnier, showing two adulterers being punished]]
The term ''adultery'' refers to sexual acts between a married person and someone who is not that person's spouse.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adultery |title=Adultery - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary |publisher=Merriam-webster.com |access-date=26 February 2015 |archive-date=14 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114060418/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adultery |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/adultery |title=Adultery &#124; Define Adultery at Dictionary.com |publisher=Dictionary.reference.com |access-date=26 February 2015 |archive-date=25 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225074845/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/adultery |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/adultery |title=adultery - definition of adultery in English from the Oxford dictionary |publisher=Oxforddictionaries.com |access-date=26 February 2015 |archive-date=2 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150102045506/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/adultery |url-status=dead }}</ref> It may arise in a number of contexts. In [[criminal law]], adultery was a criminal offence in many countries in the past, and is still a crime in some countries today. In [[family law]], adultery may be a [[grounds for divorce|ground for divorce]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.uk/divorce/grounds-for-divorce |title=Get a divorce |publisher=gov.uk |date=5 February 2015 |access-date=26 February 2015 |archive-date=12 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912073737/https://www.gov.uk/divorce/grounds-for-divorce |url-status=live }}</ref> with the legal definition of adultery being "physical contact with an alien and unlawful organ",<ref>{{cite book |title=Limits: The Role of the Law in Bioethical Decision Making |url=https://archive.org/details/limitsroleoflawi0000dwor |url-access=registration |last=Dworkin |first=Roger B. |year=1996 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-33075-8 |page=[https://archive.org/details/limitsroleoflawi0000dwor/page/62 62] }}</ref> while in some countries today, adultery is not in itself grounds for divorce. Extramarital sexual acts not fitting this definition are not "adultery" though they may constitute "unreasonable behavior", also a ground of divorce.

Another issue is the issue of paternity of a child. The application of the term to the act appears to arise from the idea that "criminal intercourse with a married woman ... tended to adulterate the issue [children] of an innocent husband ... and to expose him to support and provide for another man's [children]".<ref>''Evans v. Murff'', 135 F. Supp. 907, 911 (1955).</ref> Thus, the "purity" of the children of a marriage is corrupted, and the inheritance is altered.

In archaic law, there was a [[common law]] tort of [[criminal conversation]] arising from adultery, "conversation" being an archaic euphemism for sexual intercourse. It was a [[Heartbalm tort|tort action]] brought by a husband against a third party ("the other man") who interfered with the marriage relationship.{{citation needed|date = August 2021}}

Some adultery laws differentiate based on the sex of the participants, and as a result such laws are often seen as discriminatory, and in some jurisdictions they have been struck down by courts, usually on the basis that they discriminated against women.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6528869.stm |title=Africa &#124; Ugandan adultery law 'too sexist' |work=BBC News |date=5 April 2007 |access-date=26 February 2015 |archive-date=27 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227004540/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6528869.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ohchr.org"/>

The term ''adultery'', rather than ''extramarital sex'', implies a moral condemnation of the act; as such it is usually not a neutral term because it carries an implied judgment that the act is wrong.<ref>{{cite book |publisher=Blackwell Publishing <!--not John Wiley & Sons it seems, better?--> |doi=10.1002/9781444367072.wbiee372 |chapter=Adultery |title=International Encyclopedia of Ethics |year=2013 |last=Brake |first=Elizabeth |author-link=Elizabeth Brake |isbn=9781405186414 }}</ref>

Adultery refers to sexual relations which are not officially legitimized; for example it does not refer to having sexual intercourse with multiple partners in the case of [[polygamy]] (when a man is married to more than one wife at a time, called [[polygyny]]; or when a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, called [[polyandry]]).

==Definitions and legal constructs==
{{see also|adultery in English law}}
In the traditional English [[common law]], adultery was a [[felony]]. Although the legal definition of ''adultery'' differs in nearly every legal system, the common theme is [[Human sexual activity|sexual relations]] outside of marriage, in one form or another.
[[File:Anne boleyn.jpg|thumb|[[Anne Boleyn]] was found guilty of adultery and treason and executed in 1536. There is controversy among historians as to whether she had actually committed adultery.<ref>{{cite web |date=15 May 2013 |title=KS3 History – Was Anne Boleyn guilty of adultery? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zdbxfg8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829011739/http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zdbxfg8 |archive-date=29 August 2016 |access-date=26 February 2015 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>]]
Traditionally, many cultures, particularly [[Latin American]] ones, had strong [[double standards]] regarding male and female adultery, with the latter being seen as a much more serious violation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19690828&id=zD0aAAAAIBAJ&pg=7328,4648572|title=The Milwaukee Journal – Google News Archive Search|work=google.com|access-date=1 February 2016|archive-date=9 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309062837/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19690828&id=zD0aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OSgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7328,4648572|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>The Oxford Handbook of Latin American History, edited by Jose C. Moya, p. 387.</ref><ref>For Tranquility and Order: Family and Community on Mexico's Northern Frontier, 1800–1850, by Laura M. Shelton, pp. 76–87.</ref>

Adultery involving a married woman and a man other than her husband was considered a very serious crime. In 1707, English Lord Chief Justice John Holt stated that a man having sexual relations with another man's wife was "the highest invasion of property" and claimed, in regard to the aggrieved husband, that "a man cannot receive a higher provocation" (in a case of murder or manslaughter).<ref>{{cite book|url={{Google books |plainurl=yes |id=0PLYXR2x0n0C }} |title=Judging Evil: Rethinking the Law of Murder and Manslaughter |author=Samuel H. Pillsbury |access-date=28 September 2013}}</ref>

The ''[[Encyclopédie|Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert]]'', Vol. 1 (1751), also equated adultery to [[theft]] writing that, "adultery is, after homicide, the most punishable of all crimes, because it is the most cruel of all thefts, and an outrage capable of inciting murders and the most deplorable excesses."<ref name="quod.lib.umich.edu">{{Cite journal |url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;rgn=main;view=text;idno=did2222.0000.328 |title=Adultery |journal=Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert – Collaborative Translation Project |date=18 April 2009 |access-date=26 February 2015 |last1=Denis Diderot (Biography) |first1=François-Vincent Toussaint (Biography) |archive-date=27 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227122014/http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=did;cc=did;rgn=main;view=text;idno=did2222.0000.328 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Legal definitions of adultery vary. For example, [[New York (state)|New York]] defines an adulterer as a person who "engages in [[sexual intercourse]] with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Archie |first=Ayana |date=25 November 2024 |title=Adultery is No Longer Illegal in New York |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/11/25/nx-s1-5204988/adultery-illegal-new-york |access-date=25 November 2024 |work=[[NPR]]}}</ref> [[North Carolina]] defines adultery as occurring when any man and woman "lewdly and lasciviously associate, bed, and cohabit together."<ref>{{cite web|title=North Carolina Statute 14-184|url=http://www.ncleg.net/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bysection/chapter_14/gs_14-184.html|access-date=12 July 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100625011109/http://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_14/GS_14-184.html| archive-date= 25 June 2010|url-status= live}}</ref>
[[Minnesota]] law (repealed in 2023)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.losangelesblade.com/2023/05/19/minnesota-repeals-sodomy-fornication-adultery-laws/ | title=Minnesota repeals sodomy, fornication, & adultery laws | date=19 May 2023 }}</ref> provided: "when a married woman has sexual intercourse with a man other than her husband, whether married or not, both are guilty of adultery."<ref>{{cite web|title=Minnesota Statute section 609.36|url=https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/getpub.php?pubtype=STAT_CHAP_SEC&year=2006&section=609.36&keyword_type=exact&keyword=adultery|access-date=12 July 2010|archive-date=22 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322022001/https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bin/getpub.php?pubtype=STAT_CHAP_SEC&year=2006&section=609.36&keyword_type=exact&keyword=adultery|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 2003 [[New Hampshire Supreme Court]] case ''[[Blanchflower v. Blanchflower]]'', it was held that [[Lesbian sexual practices|female same-sex sexual relations]] did not constitute sexual intercourse, based on a 1961 definition from ''[[Webster's Third New International Dictionary]]''; and thereby an accused wife in a divorce case was found not guilty of adultery. In 2001, [[Virginia]] prosecuted an attorney, John R. Bushey, for adultery, a case that ended in a guilty plea and a $125 fine.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-m-appel/hate-the-husband-sue-the_b_311419.html |title=Hate the Husband? Sue the Mistress! |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |date=6 October 2009 |access-date=12 July 2010 |first=Jacob M. |last=Appel |author-link=Jacob M. Appel |archive-date=10 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091010043006/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-m-appel/hate-the-husband-sue-the_b_311419.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.glapn.org/sodomylaws/usa/virginia/vanews139.htm |title=Virginia Adultery Case Goes from Notable to Nonevent |newspaper=The Washington Post |author=Michelle Boorstein |date=25 August 2004 |access-date=12 July 2010 |archive-date=12 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012220904/http://www.glapn.org/sodomylaws/usa/virginia/vanews139.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Adultery is against the [[Uniform Code of Military Justice|governing law of the U.S. military]].<ref name="usmilitary.about.com">{{cite news |url=http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/adultery.htm |title=Adultery in the Military |publisher=about.com |author=Rod Powers |access-date=12 July 2010 |archive-date=28 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228140933/http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/adultery.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In [[common-law]] countries, adultery was also known as ''[[criminal conversation]].'' This became the name of the civil [[tort]] arising from adultery, being based upon compensation for the other spouse's injury.<ref>''Black's Law Dictionary'', 4th ed. 1957.</ref> Criminal conversation was usually referred to by lawyers as ''crim. con.'', and was abolished in [[England]] in 1857, and the [[Republic of Ireland]] in 1976. Another tort, [[alienation of affection]], arises when one spouse deserts the other for a third person.<ref>''Black's Law Dictionary'', 4th ed. 1957, citing ''Young v. Young'', 236 Ala. 627, 184 So. 187. 190.</ref> This act was also known as desertion, which was often a crime as well.<ref>''Black's Law Dictionary.''</ref> A small number of jurisdictions still allow suits for criminal conversation and/or alienation of affection.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.carolinafamilylaw.com/criminal_conversation.html |title=Criminal Conversation: North Carolina Laws and Defense |publisher=Haas McNeil & Associates, P.A. |access-date=12 July 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080604043419/http://www.carolinafamilylaw.com/criminal_conversation.html |archive-date = 4 June 2008}}</ref> In the United States, six states still maintain this tort.<ref name="edition.cnn.com">{{cite web |author=Wayne Drash |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/12/08/cheating.spouses.lawsuits/ |title=Beware cheaters: Your lover's spouse can sue you - CNN.com |publisher=CNN |date=8 December 2009 |access-date=26 February 2015 |archive-date=27 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227004813/http://edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/12/08/cheating.spouses.lawsuits/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ilga.gov">{{cite web|url=http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2019&ChapterID=57|title=740 ILCS 5/ Alienation of Affections Abolition Act.|website=www.ilga.gov|access-date=17 February 2016|archive-date=1 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701095844/http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2019&ChapterID=57|url-status=live}}</ref>

A marriage in which both spouses agree ahead of time to accept sexual relations by either partner with others is sometimes referred to as an [[open marriage]] or the [[Swinging (sexual practice)|swinging]] lifestyle. [[Polyamory]], meaning the practice, desire, or acceptance of intimate relationships that are not exclusive with respect to other sexual or intimate relationships, with knowledge and consent of everyone involved, sometimes involves such marriages. Swinging and open marriages are both a form of [[non-monogamy]], and the spouses would not view the sexual relations as objectionable. However, irrespective of the stated views of the partners, extramarital relations could still be considered a crime in some legal jurisdictions which criminalize adultery.

In Canada, though the written definition in the ''[[Divorce Act (Canada)|Divorce Act]]'' refers to extramarital relations with someone of the opposite sex, a [[British Columbia]] judge used the ''[[Civil Marriage Act]]'' in a 2005 case to grant a woman a divorce from her husband who had cheated on her with another man, which the judge felt was equal reasoning to dissolve the union.

In England and Wales, case law restricts the definition of adultery to penetrative sexual intercourse between a man and a woman, no matter the gender of the spouses in the marriage. [[Infidelity]] with a person of the same gender can be grounds for a divorce as unreasonable behavior; this situation was discussed at length during debates on the [[Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill]].<ref>{{cite hansard|jurisdiction=|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/lhan31.pdf|title=The Parliamentary Debates|house=House of Lords|date=8–9 July 2013|speaker=[[Tina Stowell, Baroness Stowell of Beeston]]|volume=747|no=31|column_start=145|column_end=147|position=Lords Spokesperson for [[Minister for Women and Equalities|Women and Equalities]]}} {{Cite web |url=http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/lhan31.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=9 July 2013 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305010920/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/lhan31.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> However, the practical effect of this ceased with the introduction of no-fault divorce in April 2022, which meant that unreasonable behavior ceased to be grounds for divorce.

In India, [[Adultery law in India|adultery]] was the sexual intercourse of a man with a married woman without the consent of her husband when such sexual intercourse did not amount to rape, and it was a non-cognizable, non-bailable criminal offence; the adultery law was overturned by the Supreme Court of India on 27 September 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.abplive.in/india-news/adultery-can-be-treated-as-civil-wrong-but-not-criminal-supreme-court-760349|title=Supreme Court quashes Section 497, says 'Adultery not a criminal offence'|access-date=27 September 2018|language=en|archive-date=20 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920201908/https://news.abplive.com/news/india/adultery-can-be-treated-as-civil-wrong-but-not-criminal-supreme-court-760349|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Prevalence==

[[Durex]]'s Global Sex Survey found that worldwide 22% of people surveyed admitted to have had [[extramarital sex]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.durex.com/cm/gss2005Content.asp?intQid=943&intMenuOpen= |title=The Global Sex Survey 2005 |publisher=durex.com |access-date=12 July 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080430082451/http://www.durex.com/cm/gss2005Content.asp?intQid=943&intMenuOpen= |archive-date = 30 April 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.durex.com/cm/gss2005result.pdf |title=The Global Sex Survey 2005, full report |publisher=durex.com |access-date=12 July 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080216080708/http://www.durex.com/cm/gss2005result.pdf |archive-date = 16 February 2008}}</ref> According to a 2015 study by Durex and Match.com, Thailand and Denmark were the most adulterous countries based on the percentage of adults who admitted having an affair.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statista.com/chart/3238/the-worlds-most-adulterous-countries/|title = Infographic: The world's most adulterous countries| date=18 February 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thewhistler.ng/list-of-10-most-adulterous-countries-in-the-world-1-is-a-very-religious-country/|title = List of 10 Most Adulterous Countries in the World, #1 is a Very Religious Country|date = 22 February 2017}}</ref>

In the United States [[Alfred Kinsey]] found in his studies that 50% of males and 26% of females had extramarital sex at least once during their lifetime.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/research/ak-data.html#extramaritalcoitus |title=Kinsey Study Data [Research Program] |publisher=The Kinsey Institute |access-date=12 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100726194522/http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/research/ak-data.html |archive-date=26 July 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Depending on studies, it was estimated that 22.7% of men and 11.6% of women, had extramarital sex.<ref name="Wiedermann1997" /> Other authors say that between 20% and 25% of Americans had sex with someone other than their spouse.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Atkins |first1=D. C. |last2=Baucom |first2=D. H. |last3=Jacobson |first3=N. S. |year=2001 |pmid=11770478 |title=Understanding Infidelity: Correlates in a National Random Sample |journal=Journal of Family Psychology |volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=735–749 |doi=10.1037/0893-3200.15.4.735 |s2cid=20925417 }}</ref>

Three 1990s studies in the United States, using nationally representative samples, have found that about 10–15% of women and 20–25% of men admitted to having engaged in extramarital sex.<ref name="Wiedermann1997">{{cite journal |last=Wiederman |first=M. W. |year=1997 |title=Extramarital sex: Prevalence and correlates in a national survey |journal=Journal of Sex Research |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=167–174 |jstor=3813564 |doi=10.1080/00224499709551881}}</ref><ref name="Clements,1994">Clements, M. (7 August 1994). Sex in America today: A new national survey reveals how our attitudes are changing. Parade Magazine, 4–6.</ref><ref name="Laumann, Gagnon, Michael, Michaels,1994">{{cite book |last1=Laumann |first1=E. O. |last2=Gagnon |first2=J. H. |last3=Michael |first3=R. T. |last4=Michaels |first4=S. |year=1994 |title=The social organization of sexuality: Sexual practices in the United States |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-46957-7 }}</ref>

The [[Standard Cross-Cultural Sample]] described the occurrence of extramarital sex by gender in over 50 pre-industrial cultures. The occurrence of extramarital sex by men is described as "universal" in 6 cultures, "moderate" in 29 cultures, "occasional" in 6 cultures, and "uncommon" in 10 cultures. The occurrence of extramarital sex by women is described as "universal" in 6 cultures, "moderate" in 23 cultures, "occasional" in 9 cultures, and "uncommon" in 15 cultures.<ref name="Divale, 2000">[http://worldcultures.org/SCCS1.pdf Divale, W. (2000). Pre-Coded Variables for the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample, Volume I and II. Jamaica, NY: York College, CUNY.  Distributed by World Cultures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217131745/http://worldcultures.org/SCCS1.pdf |date=17 December 2008 }}. See Variable 170 and Variable 171.</ref><ref name="Murdock, White,1969">{{cite journal |doi=10.2307/3772907 |author=Murdock, G.P. |author2=White, D.R. |title=Standard cross-cultural sample |journal=Ethnology |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=329–69 |year=1969 |jstor=3772907 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Cultural and religious traditions==
{{Close Relationships}}
[[File:Man and woman undergoing public exposure for adultery in Japan-J. M. W. Silver.jpg|thumb|Man and woman undergoing public exposure for adultery in Japan, around 1860]]

{{See also|Religion and sexuality}}

===Greco-Roman world===
{{Further|Adultery in Classical Athens}}

In the [[Greco-Roman world]], there were stringent laws against adultery, but these applied to sexual intercourse with a married woman. In the early [[Roman Law]], the ''jus tori'' belonged to the husband. It was therefore not illegal for a [[husband]] to have sex with a slave or an unmarried woman.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01163a.htm|title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Adultery|work=newadvent.org|access-date=10 May 2014|archive-date=4 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704020319/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01163a.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Dig., XLVIII, ad leg. Jul.</ref>

The Roman husband often took advantage of his legal immunity. Thus historian [[Spartianus]] said that [[Verus (senator)|Verus]], the imperial colleague of [[Marcus Aurelius]], did not hesitate to declare to his reproaching wife: "Uxor enim dignitatis nomen est, non voluptatis." ('''Wife' connotes rank, not sexual pleasure'', or more literally "Wife is the name of dignity, not bliss") (Verus, V).

Later in Roman history, as William E.H. Lecky has shown, the idea that the husband owed a fidelity similar to that demanded of the wife must have gained ground, at least in theory. Lecky gathers from the [[legal maxim]] of [[Ulpian]]: "It seems most unfair for a man to require from a wife the chastity he does not himself practice".<ref>Codex Justin., Digest, XLVIII, 5–13; Lecky, History of European Morals, II, 313.</ref>

According to [[Plutarch]], the lending of wives practiced among some people was also encouraged by [[Lycurgus of Sparta|Lycurgus]], though from a motive other than that which actuated the practice (Plutarch, Lycurgus, XXIX). The recognized license of the Greek husband may be seen in the following passage of the [[pseudo-Demosthenes|pseudo-Demosthenic]] ''[[Against Neaera|Oration Against Neaera]]'':

:''We keep mistresses for our pleasures, concubines for constant attendance, and wives to bear us legitimate children and to be our faithful housekeepers. Yet, because of the wrong done to the husband only, the Athenian lawgiver Solon allowed any man to kill an adulterer whom he had taken in the act.'' (Plutarch, Solon)

The Roman [[Lex Julia]], ''Lex Iulia de Adulteriis Coercendis'' (17 BC), punished adultery with banishment.<ref name="UNRV History">{{cite web |url=http://www.unrv.com/government/julianmarriage.php |title=The Julian marriage laws |publisher=Unrv.com |access-date=29 November 2010 |archive-date=15 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515014836/http://www.unrv.com/government/julianmarriage.php |url-status=live }}</ref> The two guilty parties were sent to different islands ("dummodo in ''diversas'' insulas relegentur"), and part of their property was confiscated.<ref name="UNRV History" /> Fathers were permitted to kill daughters and their partners in adultery. Husbands could kill the partners under certain circumstances and were required to divorce adulterous wives.

===Abrahamic religions===
{{See also|Extramarital sex#Religions|Fornication#Religions}}

====Biblical sources====
{{Main|Thou shalt not commit adultery}}
Both Judaism and Christianity base their injunction against adultery on passages in the [[Hebrew Bible]] ([[Old Testament]] in Christianity), which firstly prohibits adultery in the [[Thou shalt not commit adultery|Seventh Commandment]]: "Thou shalt not commit adultery."
({{bibleverse||Exodus|20:12|HE}}). However, Judaism and Christianity differ on what actually constitutes adultery.

{{bibleverse|Leviticus|20:10|HE}} defines what constitutes adultery in the Hebrew Bible, and it also prescribes the punishment as [[capital punishment]]. In this verse, and in the Jewish tradition, adultery consists of sexual intercourse between a man and a ''married'' woman who is not his lawful wife:

<blockquote>And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.</blockquote>

Thus, according to the Hebrew Bible, adultery is not committed if the female participant is unmarried (unless she is [[betrothed]] to be married<ref>{{Bibleverse|Deuteronomy|22:23-27|HE}}</ref>), while the marital status of the male participant is irrelevant (he himself could be married or unmarried to another woman).

If a married woman was raped by a man who is not her husband, only the rapist is punished for adultery. The victim is not punished: as the Bible declares, "this matter is similar to when a man rises up against his fellow and murders him"; just as a murder victim is not guilty of murder, a rape victim is not guilty of adultery.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Deuteronomy|22:26|HE}}</ref>

[[Michael Coogan]] writes that according to the text wives are the property of their husband, marriage meaning transfer of property (from father to husband),<ref name=coogan102>{{cite book|last1=Coogan|first1=Michael|title=God and Sex. What the Bible Really Says|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_gPKQEACAAJ&q=god+and+sex|access-date=5 May 2011|edition=1st|date=October 2010|publisher=Twelve. Hachette Book Group|location=New York, Boston|isbn=978-0-446-54525-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/godsexwhatbi00coog/page/102 102]-[https://archive.org/details/godsexwhatbi00coog/page/103 103]|chapter=4. Thou Shalt Not: Forbidden Seuxal Relationships in the Bible|url=https://archive.org/details/godsexwhatbi00coog|url-access=registration}}</ref> and adultery is violating the property right of the husband.<ref name=coogan102/> However, in contrast to other ancient Near Eastern law collections which treat adultery as an offense against the husband alone, and allow the husband to waive or mitigate the punishment, Biblical law allows no such mitigation, on the grounds that God as well as the husband is offended by adultery, and an offense against God cannot be forgiven by man.<ref>ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, "Adultery", [[Jeffrey H. Tigay]]</ref> In addition, Coogan's book was criticized by [[Phyllis Trible]], who argues that that [[patriarchy]] was not decreed, but only described by God.<ref name=trible>Phyllis Trible [http://www.bib-arch.org/reviews/review-god-and-sex.asp God and Sex: What the Bible Really Says] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806031403/http://www.bib-arch.org/reviews/review-god-and-sex.asp |date=6 August 2012 }} Biblical Archaeology Review</ref> She claims that [[Paul the Apostle]] made the same mistake as Coogan.<ref name=trible/>

[[David]]'s sexual intercourse with [[Bathsheba]], the wife of [[Uriah the Hittite|Uriah]], is described by the Bible as a "sin"<ref>{{Bibleverse|2 Samuel|12:13|HE}}</ref> whose punishment included the ravishment of David's own wives.<ref>{{Bibleverse|2 Samuel|12:11-12|HE}}</ref> According to Jennifer Wright Knust, David's act was adultery only according to the spirit and not the letter of the law, because Uriah was non-Jewish, and (according to Knust) the Biblical codes only technically applied to Israelites.<ref name="Knust2011">{{cite book|first=Jennifer Wright|last=Knust|author-link=Jennifer Knust|title=Unprotected Texts: The Bible's Surprising Contradictions About Sex and Desire|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trMblwEACAAJ|date=25 January 2011|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-172558-6|chapter=Chapter 2|url=https://archive.org/details/unprotectedtexts00jenn}}</ref> However, according to [[Jacob Milgrom]], Jews and resident foreigners received equal protection under Biblical law.<ref>[[Jacob Milgrom]], ''The JPS Torah Commentary - Numbers'', [[Jewish Publication Society]] (2003), p. 399</ref> In any case, according to the Babylonian Talmud, Uriah was indeed Jewish<ref>Babylonian Talmud, [https://www.sefaria.org/Kiddushin.76b.15 Kiddushin 76b]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/43681/was-uriah-jewish|title=Was Uriah Jewish?|website=Mi Yodeya|access-date=20 October 2016|archive-date=21 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021001639/http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/43681/was-uriah-jewish|url-status=live}}</ref> and wrote a provisional [[Get (divorce document)|bill of divorce]] prior to going out to war, specifying that if he fell in battle, the divorce would take effect from the time the writ was issued.<ref name=Thompson>{{cite book |first=John L. |last=Thompson |title=Reading the Bible with the Dead |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hWciPOChU9QC |page=200 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |access-date=21 October 2016 |isbn=9780802807533 |date=29 May 2007 |archive-date=27 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227015630/https://books.google.com/books?id=hWciPOChU9QC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Babylonian Talmud | chapter-url=https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.56a | chapter=Shabbath 56 | access-date=17 May 2019 | archive-date=17 May 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190517140618/https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.56a | url-status=live }}</ref>

====Christianity====
[[File:Nathan and David.jpg|thumb|'Thou shalt not commit adultery' (Nathan confronts David); bronze bas-relief on the door of the [[La Madeleine, Paris]], [[Paris]].]]

Adultery is considered immoral by Christians and a [[sin]], based primarily on passages like {{bibleverse|Exodus|20:14|NIV}} and {{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|6:9–10|NIV}}. Although {{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|6:11|NIV}} does say that "and that is what some of you were. But you were washed", it still acknowledges adultery to be immoral and a sin.

[[Catholicism]] ties [[fornication]] with breaking the [[Ten Commandments|sixth commandment]] in its [[Catechism of the Catholic Church|Catechism]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church - The sixth commandment |publisher=Vatican.va |date=29 October 1951 |access-date=2 August 2013 |archive-date=10 September 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020910104753/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Until a few decades ago,{{when|date=December 2018}} adultery was a criminal offense in many countries where the dominant religion is Christianity, especially in [[Roman Catholic]] countries (for example, in [[Austria]] it was a criminal offense until 1997<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/debatte-ueber-untreue-gesetz-noch-1997-drohte-oesterreichs-ehebrechern-gefaengnis-a-317486.html|title = Debatte über Untreue-Gesetz: Noch 1997 drohte Österreichs Ehebrechern Gefängnis|newspaper = Der Spiegel|date = 10 September 2004|last1 = Reimann|first1 = Anna|last2 = Freudenreich|first2 = Daniel}}</ref>). Adultery was decriminalized in [[Chile]] in 1994,<ref>''Women and Democracy: Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe'', edited by Jane S. Jaquette, Sharon L. Wolchik, p. 62.</ref> [[Argentina]] in 1995,<ref name="impowr.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.impowr.org/content/current-legal-framework-adultery-argentina |title=Current Legal Framework: Adultery in Argentina |publisher=impowr.org |access-date=26 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307232411/http://www.impowr.org/content/current-legal-framework-adultery-argentina |archive-date=7 March 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Brazil]] in 2005<ref name="iwraw-ap.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.iwraw-ap.org/resources/pdf/BRAZIL_SHADOWREPORT_CEDAW_June,18%5B1%5D.pdf |title=BRAZIL AND COMPLIANCE WITH CEDAW |date=1 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201225023/http://www.iwraw-ap.org/resources/pdf/BRAZIL_SHADOWREPORT_CEDAW_June%2C18%5B1%5D.pdf |archive-date=1 February 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[Mexico]] in 2011,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/754179.html|title=El Universal - - Adulterio ya no ser delito|date=18 June 2013|work=eluniversal.com.mx|access-date=21 October 2014|archive-date=21 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021095654/http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/754179.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://info4.juridicas.unam.mx/ijure/fed/8/344.htm?s%3D |title=Artículo 276 bis - CODIGO PENAL FEDERAL |access-date=21 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203221933/http://info4.juridicas.unam.mx/ijure/fed/8/344.htm?s= |archive-date=3 December 2013 }}</ref> but in some predominantly Catholic countries, such as the Philippines, it remains illegal.

The [[Book of Mormon]] also prohibits adultery. For instance, Abinadi cites the [[Ten Commandments]] when he accuses [[King Noah]]'s priests of sexual immorality.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/13.22?lang=eng|title=Mosiah 13:22|work=churchofjesuschrist.org|access-date=15 July 2019|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221152916/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/13.22?lang=eng|url-status=live}}</ref> When [[Jesus Christ]] visits the Americas he reinforces the law and teaches them the higher law (also found in the [[New Testament]]):

:''Behold, it is written by them of old time, that thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman, to lust after her, hath committed adultery already in his heart.''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/3-ne/12.27?lang=eng|title=3 Nephi 12:27|work=churchofjesuschrist.org|access-date=15 July 2019|archive-date=24 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224124113/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/3-ne/12.27?lang=eng|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some churches such as [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] have interpreted "adultery" to include [[Law of chastity#Includes broader transgressions|all sexual relationships outside of marriage]], regardless of the marital status of the participants.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/gs/adultery |title=Guide to the Scriptures: Adultery |publisher=churchofjesuschrist.org |access-date=2 May 2014 |archive-date=20 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920201909/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/gs/adultery?lang=eng |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Book of Mormon]] [[List of Book of Mormon prophets|prophets]] and civil leaders often list adultery as an illegal activity along with murder, robbing, and stealing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/30.10?lang=eng|title=Alma 30:10|work=churchofjesuschrist.org|access-date=15 July 2019|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221120011/https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/alma/30.10?lang=eng|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Judaism====
Though Leviticus 20:10 prescribes the death penalty for adultery, the legal procedural requirements were very exacting and required the testimony of two eyewitnesses of good character for conviction. The defendant also must have been warned immediately before performing the act.<ref>Maimonidies, Book of the Commandments, Prohibition 392 and the note at the end of Prohibition 347, Hebrew translation and notes by Rabbi Joseph Kapach, Mossad Harav Kook, Jerusalem 1971</ref> A death sentence could be issued only during the period when the [[Holy Temple]] stood, and only so long as the [[Sanhedrin]] court convened in its chamber within the Temple complex.<ref>Maimonides, [[Mishneh Torah]]: Laws of Sanhedrin 14:11</ref> Technically, therefore, no death penalty can now be applied.<ref>Talmud Bavli: Ketuvoth 30a,b</ref>

The death penalty for adultery was generally strangulation,<ref>Talmud Bavli: Sanhedrin 52b, towards the bottom</ref> except in the case of a woman who was the [[Bat kohen|daughter of a Kohen]], which was specifically mentioned in Scripture as the penalty of burning (pouring molten lead down the throat),<ref>{{bibleverse|Leviticus|21:9|HE}}</ref> or a woman who was betrothed but not married, in which case the punishment for both man and woman was stoning.<ref>{{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|22:24|HE}}.</ref>

At the civil level, [[Halakha|Jewish law]] (halakha) forbids a man to continue living with an adulterous wife, and he is obliged to divorce her. Also, an adulteress is not permitted to marry the adulterer, but (to avoid any doubt as to her status as being free to marry another or that of her children) many authorities say he must give her a divorce as if they were married.<ref>The Jewish Way in Love & Marriage, Rabbi Maurice Lamm, Harper & Row, San Francisco,1980</ref>

According to Judaism, the [[Seven laws of Noah]] apply to all of humankind; these laws prohibit adultery to non-Jews as well as Jews.<ref>[[Maimonides]], [[Mishneh Torah]], Judges, Laws of Kings and Wars, Chapter 7 (Shabse Frankel edition, Jerusalem - B'nai B'rak, 5762 (c.2008, copyright 1998))</ref>

The extramarital intercourse of a married man is not in itself considered a crime in biblical or later Jewish law;<ref>Source=ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 15 "Adultery", [[Jeffrey H. Tigay]]</ref><ref name=collins/> it was considered akin to [[polygyny]], which was permitted. Similarly, sexual intercourse between an unmarried man and a woman who was neither married nor [[Engagement|betrothed]] was not considered adultery.<ref name=collins>Collins, R. F. (1992). "Ten Commandments." In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), ''The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary'' (Vol. 6, p. 386). New York: Doubleday</ref> This concept of adultery stems from the economic aspect of Israelite marriage whereby the husband has an exclusive right to his wife, whereas the wife, as the husband's possession, did not have an exclusive right to her husband.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/adultery.html |title=Adultery |website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org |access-date=20 September 2016 |archive-date=2 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602070025/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/adultery.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In Jesus's time, the real punishment for adultery was divorce, not the death penalty.<ref name="b851">{{cite book | last=Satlow | first=Michael L. | editor-last1=Levine | editor-first1=Amy-Jill | editor-last2=Brettler | editor-first2=Marc Zvi | title=The Jewish Annotated New Testament | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=2017 | isbn=978-0-19-046187-4 | page=609 | chapter=Marriage and divorce | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ml0vDwAAQBAJ&dq=erusin+pregnant+talmud&pg=PA609}}</ref>

====Islam====
{{See also|Extramarital sex#Islam}}
''[[Zina (Arabic)|Zina']]'' is an Arabic term for illegal intercourse, premarital or extramarital. Various conditions and punishments have been attributed to adultery. Under [[Sharia|Islamic law]], adultery in general is sexual intercourse by a person (whether man or woman) with someone to whom they are not married. Adultery is a violation of the marital contract and one of the major sins condemned by God in the [[Qur'an]]:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Surah An-Nur 24:1-2 - Towards Understanding the Quran - Quran Translation Commentary - Tafheem ul Quran |url=https://www.islamicstudies.info/tafheem.php?sura=24&verse=1&to=2 |access-date=2022-08-12 |website=www.islamicstudies.info}}</ref>

Qur'anic verses prohibiting adultery include:

{{Blockquote|Do not go near adultery. It is truly a shameful deed and an evil way.|{{qref|17|32|c=y}}}}

{{Blockquote|Say, "My Lord has only forbidden open and secret indecencies, sinfulness, unjust aggression, associating ˹others˺ with Allah ˹in worship˺—a practice He has never authorized—and attributing to Allah what you do not know."|{{qref|7|33|c=y}}}}

Punishments are reserved to the legal authorities and false accusations are to be punished severely.<ref>[http://al-quran.info/#&&sura=24&trans=no-einar_berg&show=both,quran-uthmani&format=rows&ver=1.00 Online Qur'an Project Chapter 24] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090129090725/http://al-quran.info/#&&sura=24&trans=no-einar_berg&show=both,quran-uthmani&format=rows&ver=1.00 |date=29 January 2009 }}.</ref> It has been said that these legal procedural requirements were instituted to protect women from [[slander]] and false accusations: i.e. four witnesses of good character are required for conviction, who were present at that time and saw the deed taking place; and if they saw it they were not of good moral character, as they were looking at naked adults; thus no one can be convicted of adultery unless both of the accused also agree and give their confession under oath four times.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asmasociety.org/perspectives/article_8.html |title=American Muslims need to speak out against violations of Islamic Shariah law |publisher=Asmasociety.org |access-date=12 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100705191356/http://www.asmasociety.org///perspectives/article_8.html |archive-date=5 July 2010 }}</ref>

According to ''a [[hadith]]'' attributed to Muhammad, an unmarried person who commits adultery or fornication is punished by flogging 100 times; a married person will then be [[stoning|stoned]] to death.<ref>Hadith Muslim 17:4192. Also, see the following: Bukhari 6:60:79, Bukhari 83:37, Muslim 17:4196, Muslim 17:4206, Muslim 17:4209, Ibn Ishaq 970.</ref> A survey conducted by the [[Pew Research Center]] found support for stoning as a punishment for adultery mostly in [[Arab countries]]; it was supported in [[Egypt]] (82% of respondents in favor of the punishment) and [[Jordan]] (70% in favor), as well as [[Pakistan]] (82% favor), whereas in [[Nigeria]] (56% in favor) and in [[Indonesia]] (42% in favor) opinion is more divided, perhaps due to diverging traditions and differing interpretations of Sharia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pewglobal.org/2010/12/02/muslims-around-the-world-divided-on-hamas-and-hezbollah |title=Muslim Publics Divided on Hamas and Hezbollah Retrieved 2011-06-02 |publisher=Pewglobal.org |date=2 December 2010 |access-date=28 September 2013 |archive-date=29 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929010643/http://www.pewglobal.org/2010/12/02/muslims-around-the-world-divided-on-hamas-and-hezbollah/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Eastern religions===

====Hinduism====
The Hindu Sanskrit texts present a range of views on adultery, offering widely differing positions.<ref name="Harlan161"/><ref name=lawton2007p22>{{cite book|author1=Clive Lawton|author2=Peggy Morgan|title=Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e7QQAQAAIAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-7486-2329-7|pages=22|access-date=9 October 2018|archive-date=22 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222164754/https://books.google.com/books?id=e7QQAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}, Quote: "The Sanskrit texts also take widely differing positions on adultery. Some see it as a minor offence: after menstruation and some penances, the woman is purified again. An adulterous husband may merely have to undergo some mild penances. But other texts advocate even the death penalty for either the man or the woman, depending on the caste status."</ref> The hymn 4.5.5 of the ''[[Rigveda]]'' calls adultery ''pāpa'' (evil, sin).<ref name="DonigerOFlaherty1988p7">{{cite book |author=Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty |author-link=Wendy Doniger |title=The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sktbYRG_LO8C |year=1988 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0386-2 |pages=7 with footnote 40 |access-date=22 June 2018 |archive-date=21 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221014648/https://books.google.com/books?id=sktbYRG_LO8C |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Stephanie Jamison|author2=Joel Brereton|title=The Rigveda: 3-Volume Set|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fgzVAwAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-972078-1|page=566|access-date=22 June 2018|archive-date=24 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224235326/https://books.google.com/books?id=fgzVAwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}} Quote, [https://sa.wikisource.org/s/13s7 Sanskrit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920201908/https://sa.wikisource.org/wiki/%E0%A4%8B%E0%A4%97%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%83_%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%82%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%82_%E0%A5%AA.%E0%A5%AB |date=20 September 2020 }}: अभ्रातरो न योषणो व्यन्तः पतिरिपो न जनयो दुरेवाः । पापासः सन्तो अनृता असत्या इदं पदमजनता गभीरम् ॥५॥ Translation: "(You) pursuing (it) like brotherless maidens pursuing (men), (you) of evil ways like wives cheating (their) husbands, though being wicked, untruthful, untrue, you begot this deep track"</ref> Other Vedic texts call adultery a sin, just like murder, incest, anger, evil thoughts and trickery.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rick F. Talbott|title=Sacred Sacrifice: Ritual Paradigms in Vedic Religion and Early Christianity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6XNLAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|year=2005|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=978-1-59752-340-0|page=75|access-date=10 February 2018|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221203333/https://books.google.com/books?id=6XNLAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|url-status=live}}</ref> The Vedic texts, including the ''Rigveda'', the ''[[Atharvaveda]]'' and the [[Upanishads]], also acknowledge the existence of male lovers and female lovers as a basic fact of human life, followed by the recommendation that one should avoid such extramarital sex during certain ritual occasions ([[yajna]]).<ref name="Harlan161">{{cite book|author=Wendy Doniger|author-link=Wendy Doniger|editor=Lindsey Harlan and Paul B. Courtright|title=From the Margins of Hindu Marriage: Essays on Gender, Religion, and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pi7xAWStawYC&pg=PA161|year=1995|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-508117-6|pages=161–165|access-date=22 June 2018|archive-date=22 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222164752/https://books.google.com/books?id=pi7xAWStawYC&pg=PA161|url-status=live}}</ref> The Rigveda describes a woman's eagerness to meet her lover, and one hymn asks the gods to protect the embryo of a pregnant wife as she sleeps with her husband and other lovers.<ref name="Harlan161"/>

Adultery and similar offenses are discussed under one of the eighteen ''vivādapadas'' (titles of laws) in the ''dharma'' literature of Hinduism.<ref name="Rocher 2012">{{cite book | last=Rocher | first=Ludo | author-link=Ludo Rocher | title=Studies in Hindu law and Dharmaśāstra | publisher=Anthem Press | location=London New York | year=2012 | isbn=978-0-85728-550-8 | oclc=816549872 | pages=293–295}}</ref>  These texts generally condemn adultery, with some exceptions involving consensual sex and ''niyoga'' ([[levirate]] conception) in order to produce an heir.<ref name="HarlanCourtright1995p172">{{cite book|author=Wendy Doniger|author-link=Wendy Doniger|editor=Lindsey Harlan and Paul B. Courtright|title=From the Margins of Hindu Marriage: Essays on Gender, Religion, and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-lpbJ-JYFtYC|year=1995|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-508118-3|pages=172–174|access-date=26 October 2018|archive-date=19 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219043317/https://books.google.com/books?id=-lpbJ-JYFtYC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Bowles2007p49">{{cite book|author=Adam Bowles|title=Dharma, Disorder, and the Political in Ancient India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DXvbTrzPon0C|year=2007|publisher=BRILL Academic|isbn=978-90-04-15815-3|pages=49–50 with footnote 37, p. 54 with footnote 52|access-date=26 October 2018|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221104558/https://books.google.com/books?id=DXvbTrzPon0C|url-status=live}}</ref> According to ''Apastamba Dharmasutra'', the earliest dated Hindu law text, cross-[[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]] adultery is a punishable crime, where the man receives a far more severe punishment than the woman.<ref name="OlivelleDavis2018p140"/> In ''Gautama Dharmasutra'', the adulterous woman is liable to harsh punishment for the cross-class adultery.<ref name="OlivelleDavis2018p140">{{cite book|author=Stephanie Jamison|editor=Patrick Olivelle and Donald R. Davis|title=The Oxford History of Hinduism: Hindu Law: A New History of Dharmaśāstra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofU-DwAAQBAJ|year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-870260-3|pages=139–140|access-date=22 June 2018|archive-date=24 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224235744/https://books.google.com/books?id=ofU-DwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> While ''Gautama Dharmasutra'' reserves the punishment in cases of cross-class adultery, it seems to have been generalized by ''Vishnu Dharmasastra'' and ''Manusmiriti''. The recommended punishments in the text also vary between these texts.<ref name=rocher2012p296/>

The ''[[Manusmriti]]'', also known as the ''Laws of Manu'', deals with this in greater detail. Verse 4.134 declares adultery to be a heinous offense.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mandagadde Rama Jois|title=Ancient Indian Law: Eternal Values in Manu Smriti|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_PKqWOJlegC&pg=PA85|year=2015|publisher=Universal Law Publishing|isbn=978-81-7534-259-0|pages=85–86|access-date=16 January 2018|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221123948/https://books.google.com/books?id=h_PKqWOJlegC&pg=PA85|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''Manusmriti'' does not include adultery as a "grievous sin", but includes it as a "secondary sin" that leads to a loss of caste.<ref name="Manu2004p194">{{cite book|author=Patrick Olivelle|title=The Law Code of Manu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VmfXnfB-474C|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-280271-2|pages=194–195, 289 with notes on 11.177|access-date=8 October 2018|archive-date=22 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222110919/https://books.google.com/books?id=VmfXnfB-474C|url-status=live}}</ref> Intent and consent are a elements that determine the appropriate punishment. Rape is not considered adultery for the woman, while the rapist is punished severely. Lesser punishment is recommended for consensual adulterous sex.<ref name="OlivelleDavis2018p140"/> Manu recommends the death penalty for a man who rapes a virgin. Other penalties range from fines and head-shaving to the loss of a limb, depending on the relative social status of those involved.<ref>{{cite book |author=Patrick Olivelle |title=Manu's Code of Law |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PnHo02RtONMC |year=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-517146-4 |page=186 |access-date=6 October 2018 |archive-date=20 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220112525/https://books.google.com/books?id=PnHo02RtONMC |url-status=live }}</ref> In verses 8.362-363, the author states that sexual relations with the wife of traveling performer is not a sin, and reduces the penalty to a small fine.<ref>{{cite book|author=Wendy Doniger|author-link=Wendy Doniger|editor=Ariel Glucklich|title=The Sense of Adharma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d6bsOfvySvMC|year=1994|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-802448-4|pages=170–172 with footnote 6, Quote: "Manu says that sex with the wife of an actor is not a sin"|access-date=6 October 2018|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221201824/https://books.google.com/books?id=d6bsOfvySvMC|url-status=live}}</ref>
Verse 5.152 of says that a woman must constantly worship her husband as a god and be completely faithful even if he commits adultery.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Laws of Manu V |url=https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/manu/manu05.htm |access-date=2023-07-10 |website=www.sacred-texts.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Manusmriti Chapter 5, the laws of Manu, English Translation |url=https://www.hinduismfacts.org/hindu-scriptures-and-holy-books/manusmriti/chapter-v/ |access-date=2023-07-10 |website=Hinduism Facts |language=en-US}}</ref> Although the ''Manusmrti'' recommends sexual fidelity in marriage, it also accepts that adulterous relationships happen and that children are born from such unions. According to Manu, a child conceived through adultery should belong to its mother's husband  and not to its biological father.<ref name="Harlan163">{{cite book|author=Wendy Doniger|author-link=Wendy Doniger|editor=Lindsey Harlan and Paul B. Courtright|title=From the Margins of Hindu Marriage: Essays on Gender, Religion, and Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pi7xAWStawYC&pg=PA161|year=1995|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-508117-6|pages=163|access-date=22 June 2018|archive-date=22 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222164752/https://books.google.com/books?id=pi7xAWStawYC&pg=PA161|url-status=live}}</ref>

Other ''dharmasastra'' texts describe adultery as a punishable crime but offer differing details.<ref name=rocher2012p296>{{cite book | last=Rocher | first=Ludo | author-link=Ludo Rocher | title=Studies in Hindu law and Dharmaśāstra | publisher=Anthem Press | location=London New York | year=2012 | isbn=978-0-85728-550-8 | oclc=816549872 | pages=295–296}}</ref> According to ''Naradasmriti'', the term adultery in is not confined to the relationship of a married man with another man's wife. It includes sex with any woman who is protected by another man, including wives, daughters, other relatives, and servants. Adultery is not a punishable offence for a man if "the woman's husband has abandoned her because she is wicked, or he is eunuch, or of a man who does not care, provided the wife initiates it of her own volition".<ref>{{cite book|author1=Nārada|author2=Richard Wilfred Lariviere|title=The Nāradasmṛti|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1X8T65PSEXAC|year=2003|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-1804-0|page=391|access-date=23 June 2018|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221023345/https://books.google.com/books?id=1X8T65PSEXAC|url-status=live}}</ref> Adultery is not a punishable offence if a married man engages in intercourse with woman who doesn't belong to other man and is not a Brahmin, provided the woman is not of higher caste than the man.<ref>{{Cite book |last=JOLLY |first=JULIUS Tran |url=http://archive.org/details/naradiyadharmasa021669mbp |title=Naradiya Dharmasastra of the Institutes of Narada. |date=1876 |publisher=Trubner & Co.- London |others=--, ---, Mraudula Borase |pages=89}}</ref> Brihaspati-smriti mention, among other things, adulterous local customs in ancient India and then states, "for such practices these (people) incur neither penance nor secular punishment".<ref>{{cite book|author1=Robert Lingat|author2=J. Duncan M Derrett|title=The Classical Law of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sauo8iSIj7YC|year=1973|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-01898-3|pages=201 with footnote 56; for the text's significance and dating see pp. 104–105, 126–133 with footnotes|access-date=26 October 2018|archive-date=22 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222192718/https://books.google.com/books?id=Sauo8iSIj7YC|url-status=live}}</ref> Kautilya's ''Arthashastra'' includes an exemption that in case the husband forgives his adulterous wife, the woman and her lover should be set free. If the offended husband does not forgive, the ''Arthashastra'' recommends the adulterous woman's nose and ears be cut off, while her lover be executed.<ref name=doniger2016p14>{{cite book|author=Wendy Doniger|author-link=Wendy Doniger|title=Redeeming the Kamasutra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TrVjDQAAQBAJ|year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-049928-0|pages=13–14|access-date=6 October 2018|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221104600/https://books.google.com/books?id=TrVjDQAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>

In ''Kamasutra'', which is not a religious text like [[Vedas]] or [[Puranas]] but an ancient text on love and sex,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kamasutra - Was it a part of our religious texts? |url=https://www.speakingtree.in/allslides/kamasutra-was-it-a-part-of-religious-texts |access-date=2023-07-10 |website=www.speakingtree.in}}</ref> Vatsyayana discusses adultery and devotes "not less than fifteen sutras (1.5.6–20) to enumerating the reasons (''karana'') for which a man is allowed to seduce a married woman".<ref>{{cite journal | last=Rocher | first=Ludo | title=The Kāmasūtra: Vātsyāyana's Attitude toward Dharma and Dharmaśāstra | journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society | volume=105 | issue=3 | year=1985 | doi=10.2307/601526 | pages=527| jstor=601526 }}</ref> According to Wendy Doniger, the ''Kamasutra'' teaches adulterous sexual liaison as a means for a man to predispose the involved woman in assisting him, working against his enemies and facilitating his successes. It also explains the many signs and reasons a woman wants to enter into an adulterous relationship and when she does not want to commit adultery.<ref>{{cite book|author=Wendy Doniger|author-link=Wendy Doniger|editor=Ariel Glucklich|title=The Sense of Adharma|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d6bsOfvySvMC|year=1994|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-802448-4|pages=170–174|access-date=6 October 2018|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221201824/https://books.google.com/books?id=d6bsOfvySvMC|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''Kamasutra'' teaches strategies to engage in adulterous relationships, but concludes its chapter on sexual liaison stating that one should not commit adultery because adultery pleases only one of two sides in a marriage, hurts the other, it goes against both ''dharma'' and ''artha''.<ref name=doniger2016p14/>

According to Werner Menski, the Sanskrit texts take "widely different positions on adultery", with some considering it a minor offense that can be addressed with penance, but others treat it as a severe offense that depending on the caste deserves the death penalty for the man or the woman.<ref name=lawton2007p22/> According to Ramanathan and Weerakoon, in Hinduism, the [[sexual matters]] are left to the judgment of those involved and not a matter to be imposed through law.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Kathryn S. K. Hall|author2=Cynthia A. Graham|title=The Cultural Context of Sexual Pleasure and Problems: Psychotherapy with Diverse Clients|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OwMUN2zSc5kC|year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-22010-4|page=173|access-date=6 October 2018|archive-date=22 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222201909/https://books.google.com/books?id=OwMUN2zSc5kC|url-status=live}}; Quote: "In this [Hinduism] doctrine, sexual matters are not to be legislated but are left to the judgment of those involved, subject to community laws and customs."</ref>

According to Carl Olsen, the classical Hindu society considered adultery as a sexual transgression but treated it with a degree of tolerance.<ref name="Olson2007p261"/> It is described as a minor transgression in ''Naradasmriti'' and other texts, one that a sincere penance could atone.<ref name="Olson2007p261">{{cite book|author=Carl Olson|title=The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-historical Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RVWKClYq4TUC&pg=PA261|year=2007|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0-8135-4068-9|pages=261–262|access-date=22 June 2018|archive-date=23 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223082559/https://books.google.com/books?id=RVWKClYq4TUC&pg=PA261|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=James G. Lochtefeld |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M |url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch |url-access=registration |year=2002|publisher =The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8239-3179-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch/page/n439 11]}}</ref> Penance is also recommended to a married person who does not actually commit adultery, but carries adulterous thoughts for someone else or is thinking of committing adultery.<ref name="OlivelleDavis2018p427">{{cite book|author=Maria Heim|editor=Patrick Olivelle and Donald R. Davis|title=The Oxford History of Hinduism: Hindu Law: A New History of Dharmaśāstra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofU-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA427|year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-870260-3|pages=426–427|access-date=22 June 2018|archive-date=25 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225013302/https://books.google.com/books?id=ofU-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA427|url-status=live}}</ref>

Other Hindu texts present a more complex model of behavior and mythology where gods commit adultery for various reasons. For example, [[Krishna]] commits adultery and the ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]'' justifies it as something to be expected when Vishnu took a human form, just like sages become uncontrolled.<ref name="DonigerOFlaherty1988p288">{{cite book|author=Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty|author-link=Wendy Doniger|title=The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sktbYRG_LO8C|year=1988|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0386-2|pages=288–291 with footnotes 83, 89, 101–102|access-date=22 June 2018|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221014648/https://books.google.com/books?id=sktbYRG_LO8C|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Tracy Coleman, Radha and other gopis are indeed lovers of Krishna, but this is ''prema'' or "selfless, true love" and not carnal craving. In Hindu texts, this relationship between gopis and Krishna involves secret nightly rendezvous. Some texts state it to be divine adultery, others as a symbolism of spiritual dedication and religious value.<ref name="Bose2018p117">{{cite book|author=Tracy Coleman|editor=Mandakranta Bose|title=The Oxford History of Hinduism: The Goddess|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e_tdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA117|year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-107968-9|pages=117–119|access-date=22 June 2018|archive-date=19 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219234303/https://books.google.com/books?id=e_tdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA117|url-status=live}}</ref> The example of Krishna's adulterous behavior has been used by Sahajiyas Hindus of Bengal to justify their own behavior that is contrary to the mainstream Hindu norm, according to Doniger.<ref name="DonigerOFlaherty1988p288"/> Other Hindu texts state that Krishna's adultery is not a license for other men to do the same, in the same way that men should not drink poison just because Rudra-Shiva drank poison during the Samudra Manthan.<ref name="DonigerOFlaherty1988p288"/> A similar teaching is found in Mahayana Buddhism, states Doniger.<ref name="DonigerOFlaherty1988p288"/>

The ''[[Linga Purana]]'' indicates that sexual hospitality existed in ancient India. The sage Sudarshana, asks his wife Oghavati to please their guests in this way. One day, he comes home while she is having sex with a mendicant who visits their house. Sudarshana tells them to continue. The mendicant turns out to be Dharma, the lord of righteous conduct, who blesses the couple for their upholding of social law.<ref>Michel Maffesoli, « LA PROSTITUTION COMME « FORME » DE SOCIALITÉ », Cahiers Internationaux de Sociologie, vol. 76, 1984, p. 119–133 {{ISSN|0008-0276}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Pattanaik |first1=Devdutt |title=Indian Mythology: Tales, Symbols, and Rituals from the Heart of the Subcontinent |date=24 April 2003 |publisher=Inner Traditions |isbn=978-0892818709 |page=170 }}</ref>

====Buddhism====
Buddhist texts such as [[Digha Nikaya|Digha Nikāya]] describe adultery as a form of sexual wrongdoing that is one link in a chain of immorality and misery. According to Wendy Doniger, this view of adultery as evil is postulated in early Buddhist texts as having originated from greed in a [[rebirth (Buddhism)|previous life]]. This idea combines Hindu and Buddhist thoughts then prevalent.<ref name="DonigerOFlaherty1988p33"/> [[Sentient beings (Buddhism)|Sentient beings]] without body, state the [[Tripitaka|canonical texts]], are reborn on earth due to their greed and craving, some people become beautiful and some ugly, some become men and some women. The ugly envy the beautiful and this triggers the ugly to commit adultery with the wives of the beautiful. Like in [[Hindu mythology]], states Doniger, Buddhist texts explain adultery as a result from sexual craving; it initiates a degenerative process.<ref name="DonigerOFlaherty1988p33">{{cite book|author=Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty|author-link=Wendy Doniger|title=The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sktbYRG_LO8C|year=1988|publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass Publishers]]|isbn=978-81-208-0386-2|pages=33–34, n. 102–103|access-date=22 June 2018|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221014648/https://books.google.com/books?id=sktbYRG_LO8C|url-status=live}}</ref>

Buddhism considers celibacy as the monastic ideal. For he who feels that he cannot live in celibacy, it recommends that he never commit adultery with another's wife.<ref name="Harvey2000p71">{{cite book|author=Peter Harvey|title=An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Issues|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9CTSz3EVRpoC&pg=PA71|year=2000|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-55640-8|pages=71–74|access-date=22 June 2018|archive-date=21 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221050538/https://books.google.com/books?id=9CTSz3EVRpoC&pg=PA71|url-status=live}}</ref> Engaging in sex outside of marriage, with the wife of another man, with a girl who is engaged to be married, or a girl protected by her relatives (father or brother), or extramarital sex with prostitutes, ultimately causes suffering to other human beings and oneself. It should be avoided, state the Buddhist canonical texts.<ref name="Harvey2000p71"/>

Buddhist Pali texts narrate legends where the Buddha explains the karmic consequences of adultery. For example, states Robert Goldman, one such story is of Thera Soreyya.<ref name="Goldman1993p374"/> Buddha states in the Soreyya story that "men who commit adultery suffer hell for hundreds of thousands of years after rebirth, then are reborn a hundred successive times as women on earth, must earn merit by "utter devotion to their husbands" in these lives, before they can be reborn again as men to pursue a monastic life and liberation from ''samsara''.<ref name="Goldman1993p374">{{cite journal | last=Goldman | first=Robert P. |author-link=Robert P. Goldman | title=Transsexualism, Gender, and Anxiety in Traditional India | journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society | volume=113 | issue=3 | year=1993 | issn=0003-0279 | doi=10.2307/605387 | pages=377–381| jstor=605387 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Dharmasena|author2=R Obeyesekere|title=Portraits of Buddhist Women: Stories from the Saddharmaratnavaliya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vvWA5wlIWnQC|year=2001|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-5111-3|pages=213–218|access-date=26 October 2018|archive-date=24 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224134025/https://books.google.com/books?id=vvWA5wlIWnQC|url-status=live}}</ref>

There are some differences between the Buddhist texts and the Hindu texts on the identification and consequences of adultery. According to José Ignacio Cabezón, for example, the Hindu text ''Naradasmriti'' considers consensual extra-marital sex between a man and a woman in certain circumstances (such as if the husband has abandoned the woman) as not a punishable crime, but the Buddhist texts "nowhere exculpate" any adulterous relationship. The term adultery in ''Naradasmriti'' is broader in scope than the one in Buddhist sources. In the text, various acts such as secret meetings, exchange of messages and gifts, "inappropriate touching" and a false accusation of adultery, are deemed adulterous, while Buddhist texts do not recognize these acts under adultery.<ref name="Cabezon2017p454">{{cite book|author=José Ignacio Cabezón|title=Sexuality in Classical South Asian Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sCjhDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA454|year=2017|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1-61429-368-2|pages=454–455, footnote 1145|access-date=23 June 2018|archive-date=22 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222083102/https://books.google.com/books?id=sCjhDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA454|url-status=live}}</ref> Later texts such as the ''Dhammapada'', ''Pancasiksanusamsa Sutra'' and a few Mahayana sutras state that "heedless man who runs after other men's wife" acquire demerit, blame, discomfort and are reborn in hell.<ref name="Cabezon2017p44">{{cite book|author=José Ignacio Cabezón|title=Sexuality in Classical South Asian Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sCjhDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA454|year=2017|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-1-61429-368-2|pages=44–45, footnotes 79 and 80|access-date=23 June 2018|archive-date=22 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222083102/https://books.google.com/books?id=sCjhDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA454|url-status=live}}</ref> Other Buddhist texts make no mention of legal punishments for adultery.<ref name="Cabezon2017p454"/>

===Other historical practices===
[[File:Sacrificio azteca.jpg|thumb|200px|An [[Aztec]] adulterer being stoned to death; [[Florentine Codex]] ]]
[[File:Ordeal by red-hot iron.jpg|thumb|200px|According to legend, after being accused of adultery, [[Cunigunde of Luxembourg]] proved her innocence by walking over red-hot ploughshares.]]
In some Native American cultures, severe penalties could be imposed on an adulterous wife by her husband. In many instances she was made to endure a bodily mutilation which would, in the mind of the aggrieved husband, prevent her from ever being a temptation to other men again.<ref>Schoolcraft, ''Historical and Statistical Information Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States'', I, 236; V, 683, 684, 686.</ref><ref>[[Hubert Howe Bancroft|H.H. Bancroft]], ''The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America'', I, 514.</ref> Among the [[Aztec]]s, wives caught in adultery were occasionally impaled, although the more usual punishment was to be stoned to death.<ref>{{Google books |id=m7gaeXC-aTgC |page=738 |title=ABA aug Journal 1969 }}</ref>

The [[Code of Hammurabi]], a well-preserved [[Babylonia]]n [[law code]] of ancient [[Mesopotamia]], dating back to about 1772 BC, provided [[drowning]] as punishment for adultery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.womenintheancientworld.com/hammurabilawcode.htm|title=New Page 6|work=womenintheancientworld.com|access-date=5 June 2014|archive-date=29 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929003410/http://www.womenintheancientworld.com/hammurabilawcode.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Amputation of the nose{{snd}}[[rhinotomy]]{{snd}}was a punishment for adultery among many civilizations, including ancient India, ancient Egypt, among Greeks and Romans, and in Byzantium and among the Arabs.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Amputation of the nose throughout history |date=12 November 2014 |pmc=2689568 | pmid=19609383 |volume=29 |issue=1 |journal=Acta Otorhinolaryngol Ital |pages=44–50 | last1 = Sperati | first1 = G}}</ref>

In the tenth century, the Arab explorer [[Ibn Fadlan]] noted that adultery was unknown among the pagan [[Oghuz Turks]]. Ibn Fadlan writes that "adultery is unknown among them; but whomsoever they find by his conduct that he is an adulterer, they tear him in two. This comes about so: they bring together the branches of two trees, tie him to the branches and then let both trees go, so that he is torn in two."<ref>Aḥmad Ibn Faḍlān, Richard Nelson Frye, ''Ibn Fadlan's journey to Russia: a tenth-century traveler from Baghad to the Volga River'', Markus Wiener Publishers, 2005, p. 34.</ref>

In medieval Europe, early Jewish law mandated stoning for an adulterous wife and her partner.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cj-jp/fv-vf/hk-ch/p3.html |title=Historical Context - Origins of Honour Killing / Honour Killing - Worldwide / Honour Killing - In Countries with Islamic Law - Preliminary Examination of so-called Honour Killings in Canada |publisher=Justice.gc.ca |date=24 September 2013 |access-date=26 February 2015 |archive-date=15 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215194049/http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cj-jp/fv-vf/hk-ch/p3.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In England and its successor states, it has been [[high treason]] to engage in adultery with the King's wife, his eldest son's wife and his eldest unmarried daughter. The jurist Sir William Blackstone writes that "the plain intention of this law is to guard the Blood Royal from any suspicion of bastardy, whereby the succession to the Crown might be rendered dubious." Adultery was a serious issue when it came to succession to the crown. [[Philip IV of France]] had all three of his daughters-in-law imprisoned, two ([[Margaret of Burgundy, Queen of France|Margaret of Burgundy]] and [[Blanche of Burgundy]]) on the grounds of adultery and the third ([[Joan II, Countess of Burgundy|Joan of Burgundy]]) for being aware of their adulterous behaviour. The two brothers accused of being lovers of the king's daughters-in-law were executed immediately after being arrested. The wife of Philip IV's eldest son bore a daughter, the future [[Joan II of Navarre]], whose paternity and succession rights were disputed all her life.<ref>McCracken, 171.</ref>

The [[christianization of Europe]] came to mean that, in theory, and unlike with the Romans, there was supposed to be a single sexual standard, where adultery was a sin and against the teachings of the church, regardless of the sex of those involved. In practice, however, the church seemed to have accepted the traditional double standard which punished the adultery of the wife more harshly than that of the husband.<ref name="web.clark.edu">{{cite web |title=Women in the European Early Middle Ages |url=http://web.clark.edu/afisher/HIST252/lectures_text/Women%20in%20the%20Early%20Middle%20Ages.pdf |access-date=29 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319072837/http://web.clark.edu/afisher/HIST252/lectures_text/Women%20in%20the%20Early%20Middle%20Ages.pdf |archive-date=2015-03-19 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> Among Germanic tribes, each tribe had its own laws for adultery, and many of them allowed the husband to "take the law in his hands" and commit acts of violence against a wife caught committing adultery.<ref name="web.clark.edu"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Bullough |first=Vern L. |author-link=Vern Bullough |title=Medieval Concepts of Adultery |journal=Arthuriana |date=1997 |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=5–15 |jstor=27869285|doi=10.1353/art.1997.0049 |s2cid=159806337 }}</ref> In the Middle Ages, adultery in [[Vienna]] was punishable by death through [[impalement]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.wdr.de/themen/archiv/stichtag/stichtag1344.html|title=22. März 2005 - Vor 665 Jahren: Wiener Stadtrecht ordnet Pfählen für Ehebrecher an - Zeitgeschichtliches Archiv - WDR.de|work=wdr.de|date=21 March 2005|access-date=29 July 2014|archive-date=9 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809225602/http://www1.wdr.de/themen/archiv/stichtag/stichtag1344.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Austria]] was one of the last Western countries to decriminalize adultery, in 1997.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/debatte-ueber-untreue-gesetz-noch-1997-drohte-oesterreichs-ehebrechern-gefaengnis-a-317486.html|title=Debatte über Untreue-Gesetz: Noch 1997 drohte Österreichs Ehebrechern Gefängnis|author=((SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg, Germany))|date=10 September 2004|newspaper=SPIEGEL ONLINE|access-date=29 July 2014|archive-date=25 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170125204902/http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/debatte-ueber-untreue-gesetz-noch-1997-drohte-oesterreichs-ehebrechern-gefaengnis-a-317486.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The ''[[Encyclopédie|Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert]]'', Vol. 1 (1751) noted the legal double standard from that period, it wrote:<ref name="quod.lib.umich.edu"/>

<blockquote>
"Furthermore, although the husband who violates conjugal trust is guilty as well as the woman, it is not permitted for her to accuse him, nor to pursue him because of this crime".
</blockquote>

==Adultery and the law==
{{anchor|Law}}
{{See also|Extramarital sex#Law}}
{{Main|Adultery laws}}
Historically, many cultures considered adultery a very serious [[crime]], some subject to severe punishment, especially for the married woman and sometimes for her sex partner, with penalties including [[capital punishment]], [[mutilation]], or [[torture]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Such punishments have gradually fallen into disfavor, especially in [[Western countries]] from the 19th century. In countries where adultery is still a criminal offense, punishments range from [[fine (penalty)|fine]]s to [[caning]]<ref name="The Age"/> and even capital punishment. Since the 20th century, such laws have become controversial, with most Western countries repealing them.

However, even in jurisdictions that have decriminalised adultery, adultery may still have legal consequences, particularly in jurisdictions with fault-based [[divorce]] laws, where adultery almost always constitutes a [[grounds for divorce|ground for divorce]] and may be a factor in [[property settlement]], the [[child custody|custody]] of children, the denial of [[alimony]], etc. Adultery is not a ground for divorce in jurisdictions which have adopted a [[no-fault divorce]] model, but may still be a factor in child custody and property disputes.

International organizations{{which|date=November 2020}} have called for the decriminalising of adultery, especially in the light of several high-profile [[stoning]] cases that have occurred in some countries.{{which|date=November 2020}} The head of the United Nations expert body charged with identifying ways to eliminate laws that discriminate against women or are discriminatory to them in terms of implementation or impact, [[Kamala Chandrakirana]], has stated that: "Adultery must not be classified as a criminal offence at all".<ref name="Ipsnews.net"/> A joint statement by the United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice states that: "Adultery as a criminal offence violates women's human rights".<ref name="DisplayNews"/>

In Muslim countries that follow [[Sharia law]] for criminal justice, the punishment for adultery may be stoning.<ref name="Punishment for adultery in Islam"/> There are 15<ref name="Thomson Reuters Foundation"/> countries in which stoning is authorized as lawful punishment, though in recent times it has been legally carried out only in Iran and Somalia.<ref name="auto"/> Most countries that criminalize adultery are those where the dominant religion is Islam, and several [[Sub-Saharan Africa]]n Christian-majority countries, but there are some notable exceptions to this rule, namely, the Philippines and several U.S. states.

===Punishment===
In jurisdictions where adultery is illegal, punishments vary from fines (for example in the US state of [[Rhode Island]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://law.justia.com/codes/rhode-island/2012/title-11/chapter-11-6/chapter-11-6-2/|title=2012 Rhode Island General Laws :: Title 11 - Criminal Offenses :: Chapter 11-6 - Bigamy and Adultery :: Chapter 11-6-2 - Adultery.|access-date=2 September 2017|archive-date=2 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902232743/http://law.justia.com/codes/rhode-island/2012/title-11/chapter-11-6/chapter-11-6-2/|url-status=live}}</ref>) to caning in parts of Asia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/150-women-face-adultery-flogging-on-maldives-1757150.html|title=150 women face adultery flogging on Maldives|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=22 July 2009|access-date=19 September 2017|archive-date=26 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226044109/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/150-women-face-adultery-flogging-on-maldives-1757150.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/17/malaysia.adultery.caning/index.html|title=3 women caned in Malaysia for adultery|website=CNN.com|first=Joe|last=Sterling|access-date=2 September 2017|archive-date=2 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902225108/http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/17/malaysia.adultery.caning/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 15 countries<ref name="Thomson Reuters Foundation"/> the punishment includes [[stoning]], although in recent times it has been legally enforced only in Iran and Somalia.<ref name="auto"/> Most stoning cases are the result of [[mob violence]], and while technically illegal, no action is usually taken against perpetrators. Sometimes such stonings are ordered by informal village leaders who have ''de facto'' power in the community.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/04/asia/afghanistan-taliban-woman-stoning/index.html|title=Afghan woman stoned to death over adultery accusation|publisher=CNN|author1=Jethro Mullen|author2=Masoud Popalzai|date=4 November 2015 |access-date=2 September 2017|archive-date=2 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902224628/http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/04/asia/afghanistan-taliban-woman-stoning/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Adultery may have consequences under [[Civil law (common law)|civil law]] even in countries where it is not outlawed by the [[criminal law]]. For instance it may constitute ''fault'' in countries where the [[divorce law]] is [[Divorce#At-fault divorce|fault based]] or it may be a ground for [[tort]].

In some jurisdictions, the "intruder" (the third party) is punished, rather than the adulterous spouse. For instance art 266 of the Penal Code of South Sudan reads: "Whoever, has consensual sexual intercourse with a man or woman who is and whom he or she has reason to believe to be the spouse of another person, commits the offence of adultery [...]".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/ss/ss014en.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2 September 2017 |archive-date=28 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828210716/http://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/ss/ss014en.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Similarly, under the [[adultery law in India]] (Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, until overturned by the Supreme Court in 2018) it was a criminal offense for a man to have consensual sexual intercourse with a married woman, without the consent of her husband (no party was criminally punished in case of intercourse between a married man and an unmarried woman).

===Legal issues regarding paternity===
{{Further|Paternity law|Legitimacy (family law)}}
[[File:Jana2Navarra hlava.jpg|thumb|250 px|right|[[Joan II of Navarre]]{{snd}}her paternity and succession rights were disputed her whole life because her mother [[Margaret of Burgundy, Queen of France|Margaret of Burgundy]] was claimed to have committed adultery.]]
Historically, paternity of children born out of adultery has been seen as a major issue. Modern advances such as reliable [[contraception]] and [[DNA paternity testing|paternity testing]] have changed the situation (in Western countries). Most countries nevertheless have a legal presumption that a woman's husband is the father of her children who were born during that marriage. Although this is often merely a [[rebuttable presumption]], many jurisdictions have laws which restrict the possibility of legal rebuttal (for instance by creating a legal time limit during which paternity may be challenged{{snd}}such as a certain number of years from the birth of the child).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biojuris.com/natural/3-2-0.html |title=Natural Selection in Family Law |publisher=Biojuris.com |access-date=26 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304213345/http://www.biojuris.com/natural/3-2-0.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Establishing correct paternity may have major legal implications, for instance in regard to [[inheritance]].

Children born out of adultery suffered, until recently, adverse legal and social consequences. In [[France]], for instance, a law that stated that the inheritance rights of a child born under such circumstances were, on the part of the married parent, half of what they would have been under ordinary circumstances, remained in force until 2001, when France was forced to change it by a ruling of the [[European Court of Human Rights]] (ECtHR) (and in 2013, the ECtHR also ruled that the new 2001 regulations must be also applied to children born ''before'' 2001).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-116716#{%22itemid%22:[%22001-116716%22]}|title=HUDOC - European Court of Human Rights|work=coe.int}}</ref>

There has been, in recent years, a trend of legally favoring the right to a relation between the child and its biological father, rather than preserving the appearances of the 'social' family. In 2010, the ECtHR ruled in favor of a German man who had fathered twins with a married woman, granting him right of contact with the twins, despite the fact that the mother and her husband had forbidden him from seeing the children.<ref>[http://sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/hof.nsf/d0cd2c2c444d8d94c12567c2002de990/db5e85a236de283dc1257803004974b7?OpenDocument] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226171503/http://sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/hof.nsf/d0cd2c2c444d8d94c12567c2002de990/db5e85a236de283dc1257803004974b7?OpenDocument|date=26 February 2014}}</ref>

===Criticism of adultery laws===
Laws against adultery have been named as invasive and incompatible with principles of [[limited government]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} Much of the criticism comes from [[libertarianism]], the consensus among whose adherents is that government must not intrude into daily personal lives and that such disputes are to be settled privately rather than [[Prosecution|prosecuted]] and [[Sanctions (law)|penalized]] by [[public entities]]. It is also argued that adultery laws are rooted in religious doctrines; which should not be the case for laws in a [[secular state]].

Historically, in most cultures, laws against adultery were enacted only to prevent women—and not men—from having sexual relations with anyone other than their spouses,{{Citation needed|date=August 2014}} with adultery being often defined as sexual intercourse between a married woman and a man other than her husband.{{Citation needed|date=January 2016}} Among many cultures the [[punishment|penalty]] was—and to this day still is, as noted [[#Violence|below]]—[[capital punishment]]. At the same time, men were free to maintain sexual relations with any women ([[polygyny]]) provided that the women did not already have husbands or "owners". Indeed, [[wikt:בעל|בעל]] (ba`al), Hebrew for ''husband'', used throughout the [[Bible]], is synonymous with ''owner''. These laws were enacted in fear of [[cuckoldry]] and thus [[sexual jealousy]]. Many indigenous customs, such as [[female genital mutilation]]<ref>[https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/index.html "Female genital mutilation"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702174226/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/index.html |date=2 July 2011 }}, World Health Organization, February 2010.</ref> and even [[menstrual taboo]]s,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Strassman | first1 = B.I. | year = 1992 | title = The function of menstrual taboos among the Dogon: defense against cuckoldry? | doi = 10.1007/bf02692249 | pmid = 24222401 | journal = Human Nature | volume = 3 | issue = 2| pages = 89–131 | s2cid = 25712774 }}</ref> have been theorized to have originated as preventive measures against cuckolding. This arrangement has been deplored by many modern intellectuals.

Opponents of adultery laws argue that these laws maintain social norms which justify violence, discrimination and oppression of women; in the form of state sanctioned forms of violence such as [[stoning]], [[flogging]] or [[hanging]] for adultery; or in the form of individual acts of violence committed against women by husbands or relatives, such as [[honor killings]], [[crimes of passion]], and beatings.<ref name="ohchr.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12672& |title=Statement by the United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice |work=ohchr.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306103836/http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12672& |archive-date=6 March 2015 }}</ref><ref name="endvawnow.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/738-decriminalization-of-adultery-and-defenses.html|title=Decriminalization of adultery and defenses|work=endvawnow.org|access-date=31 March 2014|archive-date=10 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140410201544/http://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/738-decriminalization-of-adultery-and-defenses.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[UN Women]] has called for the decriminalization of adultery.<ref name="endvawnow.org"/>

An argument against the criminal status of adultery is that the resources of the law enforcement are limited, and that they should be used carefully; by investing them in the investigation and prosecution of adultery (which is very difficult) the curbing of serious violent crimes may suffer.<ref>''Suffolk law review, The Validity of Criminal Adultery Prohibitions After Lawrence v.Texas''; pg. 859 "Lack of enforcement suggests the prevailing view that police resources are better spent elsewhere."[http://suffolklawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/04/Viator_Note_Final.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140418220808/http://suffolklawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/04/Viator_Note_Final.pdf|date=18 April 2014}}</ref>

Human rights organizations have stated that legislation on sexual crimes must be based on [[consent]], and must recognize consent as central, and not trivialize its importance; doing otherwise can lead to legal, social or ethical abuses. Amnesty International, when condemning stoning legislation that targets adultery, among other acts, has referred to "acts which should never be criminalized in the first place, including consensual sexual relations between adults".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/afghanistan-reject-stoning-flogging-amputation-and-other-taliban-era-punish |title=Amnesty International &#124; Afghanistan: Reject stoning, flogging, amputation and other Taliban-era punishments |access-date=4 December 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420193225/http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/afghanistan-reject-stoning-flogging-amputation-and-other-taliban-era-punish |archive-date=20 April 2014 }}</ref> Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's Secretary General, said: "It is unbelievable that in the twenty-first century some countries are condoning [[child marriage]] and [[marital rape]] while others are outlawing abortion, sex outside marriage and same-sex sexual activity{{snd}}even punishable by death."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/sexual-and-reproductive-rights-under-threat-worldwide-2014-03-06|title=Sexual and reproductive rights under threat worldwide|work=amnesty.org|access-date=8 May 2014|archive-date=6 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141206225115/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/sexual-and-reproductive-rights-under-threat-worldwide-2014-03-06|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''My Body My Rights'' campaign has condemned state control over individual sexual and reproductive decisions; stating "All over the world, people are coerced, criminalized and discriminated against, simply for making choices about their bodies and their lives".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ACT35/001/2014/en|title=Document - Amnesty International - Amnesty International|work=amnesty.org|date=6 March 2014 |access-date=4 December 2016|archive-date=6 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141106033116/http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ACT35/001/2014/en|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Consequences==

===General===
For various reasons, most couples who marry do so with the expectation of [[wikt:fidelity|fidelity]]. Adultery is often seen as a breach of trust and of the commitment that had been made during the act of marriage.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Encyclopædia Britannica Online, "Adultery" |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/6618/adultery |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=12 May 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110427092349/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/6618/adultery| archive-date= 27 April 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref> Adultery can be emotionally traumatic for both spouses and often results in divorce.<ref>{{cite web |title=About.com Divorce Support, "Why Does Infidelity Often Lead to Divorce?" |url=http://divorcesupport.about.com/b/2011/05/12/why-does-infidelity-often-lead-to-divorce.htm |publisher=About.com |access-date=12 May 2011 |archive-date=11 July 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711222123/http://divorcesupport.about.com/b/2011/05/12/why-does-infidelity-often-lead-to-divorce.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Adultery may lead to ostracization from certain religious or social groups.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=6017|title=Library : Women as Guardians of Purity|work=catholicculture.org|access-date=12 May 2011|archive-date=12 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912173357/http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=6017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Adultery can also lead to feelings of guilt and jealousy in the person with whom the affair is being committed. In some cases, this "third person" may encourage divorce (either openly or subtly).<ref>{{cite web|title=Signs of a Cheating Husband |url=http://www.beatingjealousy.com/blog/?p=21 |publisher=Beatingjealousy.com |access-date=12 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905054412/http://www.beatingjealousy.com/blog/?p=21 |archive-date=5 September 2011 }}</ref> If the cheating spouse has hinted at divorce to continue the affair, the third person may feel deceived if that does not happen.<ref>{{cite web|title=Are You the Other Woman in an Affair |url=http://www.essortment.com/other-woman-affair-36524.html |publisher=Essortment.com |access-date=12 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326012438/http://www.essortment.com/other-woman-affair-36524.html |archive-date=26 March 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Getting Over an Affair as the Other Woman |url= http://www.truthaboutdeception.com/community-features/ask-an-expert/questions-by-topic/infidelity/577-getting-over-an-affair-as-the-other-woman.html |publisher= Truthaboutdeception.com |access-date= 12 May 2011 |archive-date= 4 May 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110504213245/http://www.truthaboutdeception.com/community-features/ask-an-expert/questions-by-topic/infidelity/577-getting-over-an-affair-as-the-other-woman.html |url-status= usurped }}</ref> They may simply withdraw with ongoing feelings of guilt, carry on an obsession with their lover, may choose to reveal the affair, or in rare cases, commit violence or other crimes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Amy Fisher|url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/amy_fisher/index.html|publisher=trutv.com|access-date=12 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125221246/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/amy_fisher/index.html|archive-date=25 January 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>

There is correlation between divorces and children having struggles in later life.<ref>{{cite web|title=nasponline.org, Divorce: A Parents' Guide for Supporting Children|url=http://www.nasponline.org/resources/parenting/divorce_ho.aspx|publisher=nasponline.org|access-date=12 May 2011|archive-date=5 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105093709/http://www.nasponline.org/resources/parenting/divorce_ho.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Sexually transmitted infections===
{{Further|Sexually transmitted disease}}
Like any sexual contact, extramarital sex opens the possibility of the introduction of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) into a marriage. Since most married couples do not routinely use [[Birth control#Barrier|barrier contraceptive]]s,{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} STDs can be introduced to a marriage partner by a spouse engaging in unprotected extramarital sex. This can be a [[public health]] issue in regions of the world where STDs are common, but addressing this issue is very difficult due to legal and social barriers{{snd}}to openly talk about this situation would mean to acknowledge that adultery (often) takes place, something that is taboo in certain cultures, especially those strongly influenced by religion. In addition, dealing with the issue of barrier contraception in marriage in cultures where women have very few rights is difficult: the power of women to negotiate safer sex (or sex in general) with their husbands is often limited.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Mkandawire |first=Elizabeth |title=Socialisation of Malawian women and the negotiation of safe sex |date=2012 |type=Master's thesis |publisher=University of Pretoria |url=https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/30079 |hdl=2263/30079 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aids2031.org/pdfs/safe%20and%20consensual%20sex%20are%20women%20empowered%20enough%20to%20negotiate.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=21 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227101002/http://www.aids2031.org/pdfs/safe%20and%20consensual%20sex%20are%20women%20empowered%20enough%20to%20negotiate.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Gender power imbalance on women's capacity to negotiate self-protection against HIV/AIDS in Botswana and South Africa | pmc=1831928 | pmid=16245988 | volume=5 | issue=3 | year=2005 | journal=Afr Health Sci | pages=188–97 | last1 = Langen | first1 = TT }}</ref> The [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) found that women in violent relations were at increased risk of [[HIV/AIDS]], because they found it very difficult to negotiate safe sex with their partners, or to seek medical advice if they thought they have been infected.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.who.int/hac/techguidance/pht/InfoBulletinIntimatePartnerViolenceFinal.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=21 February 2014 |archive-date=25 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025220637/http://www.who.int/hac/techguidance/pht/InfoBulletinIntimatePartnerViolenceFinal.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Violence==
[[File:Adulteri.jpg|thumb|170px|[[Inca]] woman and man to be stoned for adultery, by [[Huamán Poma]] ]]
Historically, female adultery often resulted in extreme violence, including [[murder]] (of the woman, her lover, or both, committed by her husband). Today, domestic violence is outlawed in most countries.

Marital infidelity has been used, especially in the past, as a [[legal defence]] of [[Provocation (legal)|provocation]] to a criminal charge, such as murder or assault. In some jurisdictions, the defence of provocation has been replaced by a [[partial defence]] or provocation or the behaviour of the victim can be invoked as a [[mitigating factor]] in sentencing.

In recent decades, feminists and women's rights organizations have worked to change laws and social norms which tolerate [[crimes of passion]] against women. [[UN Women]] has urged states to review legal defenses of passion and provocation, and other similar laws, to ensure that such laws do not lead to impunity in regard to [[violence against women]], stating that "laws should clearly state that these defenses do not include or apply to crimes of "honour", adultery, or [[domestic violence|domestic assault]] or murder."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.endvawnow.org/en/articles/738-decriminalization-of-adultery-and-defenses.html%29|title=Decriminalization of adultery and defenses}}</ref>

The [[Council of Europe]] Recommendation Rec(2002)5 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the protection of women against violence<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=280915&Site=CM&BackColorInternet=C3C3C3&BackColorIntranet=EDB021&BackColorLogged=F5D383|title=Committee of Ministers - on the protection of women against violence|author=Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers, Plenary}}</ref> states that member states should "preclude adultery as an excuse for violence within the family".

===Honor killings===
{{Main|Honor killing}}
[[Honor killings]] are often connected to accusations of adultery. Honor killings [[Honor killing#By region|continue to be practiced in some parts of the world]], particularly (but not only) in parts of South Asia and the Middle East. Honor killings are treated leniently in some legal systems.<ref>According to the report of the Special Rapporteur submitted to the 58th session of the [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]] (2002) concerning cultural practices in the family that reflect violence against women (E/CN.4/2002/83): The Special Rapporteur indicated that there had been contradictory decisions with regard to the honour defense in [[Brazil]], and that legislative provisions allowing for partial or complete defense in that context could be found in the penal codes of [[Argentina]], [[Ecuador]], [[Egypt]], [[Guatemala]], [[Iran]], [[Israel]], [[Jordan]], [[Peru]], [[Syria]], [[Venezuela]] and the [[Palestinian National Authority]].[http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/AllSymbols/985168F508EE799FC1256C52002AE5A9/$File/N0246790.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325122729/http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/AllSymbols/985168F508EE799FC1256C52002AE5A9/$File/N0246790.pdf|date=25 March 2009}}</ref> Honor killings have also taken place in immigrant communities in Europe,<ref>{{cite web |title=So-called "honour crimes" |url=https://assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/X2H-Xref-ViewHTML.asp?FileID=10068&lang=EN |website=assembly.coe.int |publisher=Council of Europe |access-date=5 February 2025}}</ref> Canada,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Canada |first1=Department of Justice |title=Preliminary Examination of so-called "Honour Killings" in Canada - Open Government Portal |url=https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/60a947ee-afdf-4ac4-bc30-a04bfcc43a24 |website=open.canada.ca |access-date=5 February 2025}}</ref> and the U.S.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=van Baak |first1=Carlijn |last2=Hayes |first2=Brittany E. |last3=Freilich |first3=Joshua D. |last4=Chermak |first4=Steven M. |title=Honor Killings in the United States From 1990 to 2021: Primary Victims and Corollary Victims |journal=Crime & Delinquency |date=1 July 2024 |volume=70 |issue=8 |pages=2043–2072 |doi=10.1177/00111287221128482 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00111287221128482 |access-date=5 February 2025 |language=en |issn=0011-1287|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In some parts of the world, honor killings enjoy considerable public support: in one survey, 33.4% of teenagers in Jordan's capital city, Amman, approved of honor killings.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-22992365|title=Many Jordan teenagers 'support honour killings'|newspaper=BBC News|date=20 June 2013|last1=Maher|first1=Ahmed|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=18 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818025340/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-22992365|url-status=live}}</ref> A survey in [[Diyarbakir]], Turkey, found that, when asked the appropriate punishment for a woman who has committed adultery, 37% of respondents said she should be killed, while 21% said her nose or ears should be cut off.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4357158.stm|title=BBC NEWS - Europe - 'Honour' crime defiance in Turkey|work=bbc.co.uk|date=19 October 2005|access-date=28 August 2014|archive-date=30 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430204622/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4357158.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Until 2009, in [[Syria]], it was legal for a husband to kill or injure his wife or his female relatives caught [[in flagrante delicto]] committing adultery or other illegitimate sexual acts. The law has changed to allow the perpetrator to only "benefit from the attenuating circumstances, provided that he serves a prison term of no less than two years in the case of killing."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sgdatabase.unwomen.org/searchDetail.action?measureId=28169&baseHREF=country&baseHREFId=1263 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416012813/http://sgdatabase.unwomen.org/searchDetail.action?measureId=28169&baseHREF=country&baseHREFId=1263 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 April 2013 |title=The Secretary General's database on violence against women |publisher=Sgdatabase.unwomen.org |date=29 May 2012 |access-date=28 September 2013 }}</ref> Other articles also provide for reduced sentences. Article 192 states that a judge may opt for reduced punishments (such as short-term imprisonment) if the killing was done with an honorable intent. Article 242 says that a judge may reduce a sentence for murders that were done in rage and caused by an illegal act committed by the victim.<ref name="Human Rights Watch">{{cite web|title=Syria: No Exceptions for Honor Killings|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2009/07/28/syria-no-exceptions-honor-killings|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=8 December 2011|date=28 July 2009|archive-date=6 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106034307/http://www.hrw.org/news/2009/07/28/syria-no-exceptions-honor-killings|url-status=live}}</ref> In recent years, Jordan has amended its Criminal Code to modify its laws which used to offer a complete defense for honor killings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/belief-that-honour-killings-are-justified-still-prevalent-among-jordans-next-generation-study-shows|title=Belief that honour killings are 'justified' still prevalent among Jordan's next generation, study shows|date=20 June 2013|work=University of Cambridge|access-date=19 June 2014|archive-date=14 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214032106/https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/belief-that-honour-killings-are-justified-still-prevalent-among-jordans-next-generation-study-shows|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to the UN in 2002:

:"The report of the [[United Nations special rapporteur|Special Rapporteur]] ... concerning cultural practices in the family that are violent towards women (E/CN.4/2002/83), indicated that honour killings had been reported in [[Egypt]], [[Jordan]], [[Lebanon]], [[Morocco]], [[Pakistan]], the [[Syria|Syrian Arab Republic]], [[Turkey]], [[Yemen]], and other Mediterranean and Persian Gulf countries, and that they had also taken place in western countries such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom, within migrant communities."<ref name="unhchr">{{cite web |title=Working towards the elimination of crimes against women committed in the name of honour |url=http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/AllSymbols/985168F508EE799FC1256C52002AE5A9/$File/N0246790.pdf |publisher=[[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]] |access-date=8 February 2008 |archive-date=27 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227104541/http://www.unhchr.ch/huridocda/huridoca.nsf/AllSymbols/985168F508EE799FC1256C52002AE5A9/$File/N0246790.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Abu-Ghanem women speak out against serial 'honor killings' |url=https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/829440.html |url-status=dead |newspaper=[[Haaretz]] |access-date=23 February 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225090106/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/829440.html |archive-date= 25 February 2007}}</ref>

===Crimes of passion===
{{Main|Crime of passion}}
[[Crimes of passion]] are often triggered by jealousy, and, according to [[Human Rights Watch]], "have a similar dynamic [to honor killings] in that the women are killed by male family members and the crimes are perceived as excusable or understandable."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0212_020212_honorkilling.html|title=Thousands of Women Killed for Family "Honor"|work=nationalgeographic.com|access-date=27 September 2014|archive-date=5 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905122357/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0212_020212_honorkilling.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Stoning===
[[File:Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 201.png|thumbnail|[[Jesus and the woman taken in adultery]] by [[Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld]], 1860, where Jesus said that the man who was without sin should throw the first stone.]]
{{Main|Stoning}}
[[Stoning]], or lapidation, refers to a form of [[capital punishment]] whereby an organized group throws stones at an individual until the person dies, or the condemned person is pushed from a platform set high enough above a stone floor that the fall would probably result in instantaneous death.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.jlaw.com/Briefs/capital2.html|title = Examining Halcha, Jewish issues and secular law|last = Rapps|first = Dennis|author2 = Weinberg, Lewin|date = December 1999|work = Jewish Law:Legal briefs|publisher = Ira Kasdan|access-date = 9 October 2009|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091105092848/http://www.jlaw.com/Briefs/capital2.html|archive-date = 5 November 2009|url-status = dead}}</ref>

Stoning continues to be practiced today, in parts of the world. Recently, several people have been sentenced to death by stoning after being accused of adultery in Iran, Somalia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Mali, and Pakistan by tribal courts.<ref>Examples include:

* {{cite news |date=18 November 2009 |title=Somali woman stoned for adultery |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8366197.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001074344/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8366197.stm |archive-date=1 October 2010 |access-date=24 June 2010 |work=BBC News}}
* {{cite news |author1=Robert Tait |author2=Noushin Hoseiny |date=21 July 2008 |title=Eight women and a man face stoning in Iran for adultery |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/21/iran.humanrights |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902131353/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/21/iran.humanrights |archive-date=2 September 2013 |access-date=24 June 2010 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}
* [https://www.foxnews.com/story/two-men-stoned-to-death-for-adultery-in-iran "Two Men Stoned to Death for Adultery in Iran".]
* {{cite news |date=16 August 2010 |title=Taliban 'kill adulterous Afghan couple' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10983494 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709180216/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10983494 |archive-date=9 July 2018 |access-date=21 June 2018 |work=BBC News}}
* [http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2011/01/27/woman-stoned-to-death-in-north-afghanistan.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112041848/http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2011/01/27/woman-stoned-to-death-in-north-afghanistan.html|author=Quentin Sommerville|title=Woman stoned to death in north Afghanistan {{!}} A boulder is then thrown at her head, her burka is soaked in blood, and she collapses inside the hole|date=|archive-date=2012-01-12}}
* {{cite news |last=Smith |first=David |date=May 31, 2012 |title=Sudanese woman sentenced to stoning death over adultery claims |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/31/sudanese-woman-stoning-death-adultery |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226063901/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/31/sudanese-woman-stoning-death-adultery |archive-date=2017-02-26 |access-date=16 December 2016 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}
* [https://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/02/world/africa/mali-couple-stoned/index.html]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/18/couple-sentenced-pakistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305023803/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/18/couple-sentenced-pakistan|author=Saeed Shah|title=Pakistani couple face death by stoning threat after conviction for adultery|date=|publisher=The Guardian|archive-date=2017-03-05}}</ref>

===Flogging===
{{Main|Flogging|Judicial corporal punishment}}
In some jurisdictions [[flogging]] is a punishment for adultery.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10890137|title=Five flogged in Indonesia despite human rights protests|newspaper=BBC News|date=6 August 2010|last1=Vaswani|first1=Karishma|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=20 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120111221/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10890137|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/01/world/asia/brunei-sharia-law/|title=Brunei adopts sharia law amid international outcry|author=Arshiya Khullar|date=1 May 2014|work=CNN|access-date=8 May 2014|archive-date=8 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508114549/http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/01/world/asia/brunei-sharia-law/|url-status=live}}</ref> There are also incidents of extrajudicial floggings, ordered by informal religious courts. In 2011, a 14-year-old girl in Bangladesh died after being publicly lashed, when she was accused of having an affair with a married man. Her punishment was ordered by villagers under Sharia law.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12344959|title=Four arrested after Bangladesh girl 'lashed to death'|newspaper=BBC News|date=2 February 2011|last1=Ethirajan|first1=Anbarasan|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=27 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127060404/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12344959|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12398757|title=Bangladesh village shaken after lashed girl's death|newspaper=BBC News|date=9 February 2011|last1=Anbarasan|first1=Ethirajan|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=5 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205134921/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12398757|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Violence between the partners of an adulterous couple===
Married people who form relations with extramarital partners or people who engage in relations with partners married to somebody else may be subjected to violence in these relations.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/2007/10/31/wills_found_guilty_of_murdering_mistress.html|title=Wills found guilty of murdering mistress|date=31 October 2007|work=thestar.com|access-date=23 August 2017|archive-date=3 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171103052143/https://www.thestar.com/news/2007/10/31/wills_found_guilty_of_murdering_mistress.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-officer-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-killing-his-mistress-and-daughter/2013/03/22/315eea9c-92fe-11e2-a31e-14700e2724e4_story.html|title=D.C. officer sentenced to life in prison for killing his mistress and daughter|author=Spencer S. Hsu|date=22 March 2013|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=23 August 2017|archive-date=19 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119161056/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-officer-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-killing-his-mistress-and-daughter/2013/03/22/315eea9c-92fe-11e2-a31e-14700e2724e4_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Because of the nature of adultery{{snd}}illicit or illegal in many societies{{snd}}this type of intimate partner violence may go underreported or may not be prosecuted when it is reported; and in some jurisdictions this type of violence is not covered by the specific [[domestic violence]] laws meant to protect persons in legitimate couples.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://derechoalderecho.org/wp-content/uploads/110324desicionsupremoley54-1.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=6 May 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051854/http://derechoalderecho.org/wp-content/uploads/110324desicionsupremoley54-1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://globalvoices.org/2011/04/03/puerto-rico-controversial-decision-on-domestic-violence/|title=Puerto Rico: Controversial Decision on Domestic Violence · Global Voices|work=Global Voices|date=3 April 2011|access-date=29 September 2015|archive-date=12 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151012020746/https://globalvoices.org/2011/04/03/puerto-rico-controversial-decision-on-domestic-violence/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==In fiction==
[[File:Madame Bovary 1857 (hi-res).jpg|thumb|100px|Title page of the first edition of [[Gustave Flaubert]]'s ''Madame Bovary'' (Lévy, Paris, 1857).]]
{{Further|Adultery in literature}}
The theme of adultery has been used in many literary works, and has served as a theme for notable books such as ''[[Anna Karenina]]'', ''[[Madame Bovary]]'', ''[[Lady Chatterley's Lover]]'', ''[[The Scarlet Letter]]'' and ''[[Adultery (novel)|Adultery]]''. It has also been the theme of many movies.

==See also==
{{Div col}}
* [[Adultery in literature]]
* [[Affair]]
* [[Cuckquean]]
* [[Cuckold]]
* [[Emotional affair]]
* [[Family therapy]] ([[Relationship counseling]])
* [[Incidence of monogamy]]
* [[Infidelity]]
* [[Jesus and the woman taken in adultery]]
* ''[[MacLennan v MacLennan]]''
* [[Open marriage]]
* [[Polygyny threshold model]]
* [[Polyamory]]
* [[Sexual jealousy in humans]]
* [[Swinging (sexual practice)|Swinging]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* McCracken, Peggy (1998). ''The romance of adultery: queenship and sexual transgression in Old French literature''. University of Pennsylvania Press. {{ISBN|0-8122-3432-4}}.
* Mathews, J. ''Dating a Married Man: Memoirs from the "Other Women''. 2008. {{ISBN|1-4404-5004-8}}.
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120522120742/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/Best%20Practices%20%28English%29.pdf Best Practices: Progressive Family Laws in Muslim Countries]}} (August 2005)
* Moultrup, David J. (1990). Husbands, Wives & Lovers. New York: Guilford Press.
* {{cite journal | last1 = Glass | first1 = S. P. | last2 = Wright | first2 = T. L. | year = 1992 | title = Justifications for extramarital relationships: The association between attitudes, behaviors, and gender | journal = [[Journal of Sex Research]] | volume = 29 | issue = 3| pages = 361–387 | doi=10.1080/00224499209551654}}
* {{cite journal | last1 = Goody | first1 = Jack | author-link = Jack Goody | year = 1956| title = A Comparative Approach to Incest and Adultery | journal = The British Journal of Sociology | volume = 7 | issue = 4| pages = 286–305 | doi = 10.2307/586694 | jstor=586694}}
* Pittman, F. (1989). Private Lies. New York: W. W. Norton Co.
* {{cite journal | last1 = Rubin | first1 = A. M. | last2 = Adams | first2 = J. R. | year = 1986 | title = Outcomes of sexually open marriages | journal = Journal of Sex Research | volume = 22 | issue = 3| pages = 311–319 | doi=10.1080/00224498609551311}}
* Vaughan, P. (1989). The Monogamy Myth. New York: New Market Press.
* Blow, Adrian J.; Hartnett, Kelley (April 2005). Infidelity in Committed Relationships I: A Methodological Review. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071118194608/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3658/is_200504/ai_n13641667 INFIDELITY IN COMMITTED RELATIONSHIPS I: A METHODOLOGICAL REVIEW]}} | ''[[Journal of Marital & Family Therapy]]'' | Find Articles at BNET<!-- bot-generated title --> at findarticles.com
* Blow, Adrian J; Hartnett, Kelley (April 2005). Infidelity in Committed Relationships II: A Substantive Review. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070127081051/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3658/is_200504/ai_n13641677 INFIDELITY IN COMMITTED RELATIONSHIPS II: A SUBSTANTIVE REVIEW {{!}} Journal of Marital and Family Therapy {{!}} Find Articles at BNET<!-- bot-generated title -->]}} at findarticles.com

{{Sexual ethics}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Wikiquote}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adultery}}
[[Category:Adultery| ]]
[[Category:Family law]]
[[Category:Human sexuality]]
[[Category:Love]]
[[Category:Sexual fidelity|*]]
[[Category:Sexual misconduct]]
[[Category:Sex and the law]]