Adultery

==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 In some jurisdictions, the defence of provocation has been replaced by a [[partial defence]] or provocation or the behaviour of the victim can be invoked as a [[mitigating factor]] in sentencing.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, Canada and the U.S. 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=http://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 Generals 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=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/829440.html|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 | url-status= live}}</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 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8366197.stm |url-status=live |access-date=24 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001074344/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8366197.stm |archive-date=1 October 2010}}
* {{cite news |author1=Robert Tait |author2=Noushin Hoseiny |date=21 July 2008 |title=Eight women and a man face stoning in Iran for adultery |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/21/iran.humanrights |url-status=live |access-date=24 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902131353/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/21/iran.humanrights |archive-date=2 September 2013}}
* [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,479752,00.html "Two Men Stoned to Death for Adultery in Iran".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527200840/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,479752,00.html|date=27 May 2013}}
* {{cite news |date=16 August 2010 |title=Taliban 'kill adulterous Afghan couple' |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10983494 |url-status=live |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709180216/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10983494 |archive-date=9 July 2018}}
* [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 |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/31/sudanese-woman-stoning-death-adultery |url-status=live |access-date=16 December 2016 |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}}
* [http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/02/world/africa/mali-couple-stoned/index.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904150346/http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/02/world/africa/mali-couple-stoned/index.html|author=Katarina Hoije|title=Islamists: Two stoned to death for committing adultery in Mali|publisher=CNN|date=|archive-date=2012-09-04}}
* [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=http://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>