Adultery

===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>