Adultery

==Definitions and legal constructs==
[[File:Anne boleyn.jpg|thumb|200 px|[[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 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zdbxfg8 |title=KS3 History – Was Anne Boleyn guilty of adultery? |publisher=BBC |date=15 May 2013 |access-date=26 February 2015 |archive-date=29 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160829011739/http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zdbxfg8 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[File:Jules Arsène Garnier - Le supplice des adultères.jpg|thumb|200px|''Le supplice des adultères'', by Jules Arsène Garnier, showing two adulterers being punished]]
{{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.

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 web
 |title=New York Penal Law Section 255.17
 |url=http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS
 |access-date=12 July 2010
 |archive-date=8 December 2002
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021208072336/http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?commonquery=laws
 |url-status=live
 }}</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 |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=Edition.cnn.com |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, extra-marital 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'|last=Bureau|first=ABP News|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>