Family law
Entering into marriage
Prenuptial agreement  · Marriage
Common-law marriage
Same-sex marriage
Legal states similar to marriage
Cohabitation  · Civil union
Domestic partnership
Registered partnership
Putative marriage
Dissolution of marriage
Annulment  · Divorce  · Alimony
Issues affecting children
Paternity  · Legitimacy  · Adoption
Legal guardian  · Ward
Emancipation of minors  · Foster care
Child Protective Services
Parental responsibility
Contact (including Visitation)
Residence in English law
Custody  · Child support
Areas of possible legal concern
Spousal abuse  · Child abuse
Child abduction  · Child marriage
Adultery  · Bigamy  · Incest
Conflict of Laws Issues
Marriage  · Nullity  · Divorce

Adultery is the voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and another person who is not his or her spouse, though in some cultures adultery takes place only when a married woman has sexual relations with someone who is not her husband. Family law is an area of the Law that deals with family-related issues and Domestic relations including but not limited to the nature of A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement, commonly abbreviated to prenup or prenupt, is a Contract entered NOTICE TO WOULD-BE ROMEOS ************** Common-law marriage (or Common law marriage) sometimes called de facto marriage, informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute Same-sex marriage (also referred to as gay marriage) is a term for a legally or Socially recognized Marriage between two people of the same Cohabitation is when people live together in an emotionally- and/or physically- Intimate relationship. A civil union is a legally recognized union similar to Marriage. A domestic partnership is a legal or Personal relationship between two individuals who live together and share a common domestic life but are neither joined by a traditional Registered partnership is one of several terms synonymous with a Civil union or Civil partnership similar to Marriage, typically created in order to provide A putative marriage is an apparently valid Marriage, entered into in Good faith on the part of at least one of the partners but that is legally invalid due to Annulment in the Catholic Church See also Annulment (Catholic Church In the Roman Catholic Church, a marriage is considered to be a valid contract Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the termination of a Marriage. Alimony, maintenance or spousal support is an obligation established by Law in many countries that is based on the premise that both spouses have an absolute In law Paternity is the legal acknowledgment of the parental relationship between a man and a child usually based on several factors In Common law, legitimacy is the status of a Child that is born to parents who are legally married to one another or that is born shortly after the Adoption is the act of legally placing a child with a Parent or parents other than those to whom they were born A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty to care for the personal and Property interests of another person called a ward In Law, a ward is someone placed under the protection of a Legal guardian. Emancipation of minors is a legal mechanism by which a child is freed from control by their parent(s/guardian(s and the parent(s/guardian(s is/are freed from any and all responsibility Foster care is a system by which a certified stand-in "parent(s" cares for minor Children or young peoples who have been removed from their birth parents Child Protective Services (CPS is the name of a Governmental agency in many states of the United States that responds to reports of Child abuse In the states of the European Union and elsewhere parental responsibility refers to the rights and privileges which underpin the relationship between a In Family law, contact (or in the United States, visitation) is one of the general terms which denotes the level of contact a parent or other significant Residence is a term used to refer to not always similar concepts in various parts of English law including taxation immigration and family law Child custody and '''guardianship''' are Legal terms which are sometimes used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a Parent and his In family law and government policy child support or child maintenance is the ongoing obligation for a periodic payment made directly or indirectly by a non-custodial parent Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or spousal abuse) occurs when a family member partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate Child abuse is the physical, psychological or sexual maltreatment of children Child abduction is the abduction or kidnapping of a Child (or Baby) by an older person Child marriage usually refers to two separate social phenomena which are practiced in some societies The term polygamy (a Greek word meaning "the practice of multiple marriage" is used in related ways in Social anthropology, Sociobiology, and Incest refers to any sexual activity between closely related persons (often within the immediate family that is illegal or socially Taboo. Conflict of laws (or private international law) is that branch of International law and intranational interstate law that regulates all Lawsuits involving In Conflict of laws, the issue of Marriage has assumed increasing public policy significance in a world of increasing multi-ethnic multi-cultural Community In Conflict of Laws, the issue of nullity (known as Annulment in the United States) in Family Law inspires a wide response among the laws In modern Society, the role of marriage and its termination through Divorce have become political issues Sexual intercourse, in its biological sense is the act in which the male reproductive organ (in humans and other higher animals enters the female reproductive tract NOTICE TO WOULD-BE ROMEOS ************** In most cases, in western countries, only the married party is said to have committed adultery, and if both parties are married (but not to each other) then they both commit separate acts of adultery. In other countries, both parties to the adultery are considered guilty, while in others again only the woman is able to commit adultery and to be considered guilty.

Adultery is also referred to as extramarital sex, philandary or infidelity but does not include fornication. Extramarital sex occurs when a married person engages in Sexual activity with someone other than their marriage partner See also Adultery Infidelity can be defined as any violation of the mutually agreed-upon rules or boundaries of a relationship and is a breach of faith in an inter-personal Fornication, or simple fornication is a term which refers to voluntary Sexual intercourse between persons not married to each other The term "adultery" for many people carries a moral or religious association, while the term "extramarital sex" is morally or judgmentally neutral.

The interaction between laws on adultery with those on rape has and does pose particular problems in societies which are especially sensitive to sexual relations by a married woman, such as some Muslim countries. Rape, also referred to as Sexual assault, is an Assault by a person involving Sexual intercourse with or Sexual penetration of another person A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion ^[1] The difference between the offences is that adultery is voluntary, while rape is not. If a woman claims that she has been raped, and the offence cannot be proved, then the logical consequence is that the sexual relations were voluntary, and the consequences of adultery may result. In those circumstances, the woman victim would tend not to report a rape against her.

The term adultery has a Judeo-Christian origin, though the concept of marital fidelity is found in many other societies. Though the definition and consequences vary between religions, cultures and legal jurisdictions, the concept is similar in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and Hinduism has a similar concept. In Law, jurisdiction (from the Latin ius iuris meaning "law" and dicere meaning "to speak" is the practical Authority But the word should be used cautiously when discussing various cultures, some of which permit less permanent forms of marriage, or even sexual "lending". ^[2]

Historically, adultery has been considered to be a serious offense by many cultures. In some countries, adultery is a crime. In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment However, even in jurisdictions where adultery is not itself a criminal offence, it may still have legal consequences, particularly in divorce cases. Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the termination of a Marriage. For example it may constitute grounds for divorce, it may be a factor to consider in a property settlement, it may affect the status of children, the custody of children, etc. Division of property, also known as equitable distribution, is a judicial division of property rights and obligations between spouses during Divorce. Moreover, adultery may result in social ostracism. Ostracism ( ostrakismos) was a procedure under the Athenian democracy in which a prominent Citizen could be expelled from the City-state

It has been claimed that adultery results from a mental disorder. ^[3] Whether correct or not, adultery is common. Three recent studies in the United States, using nationally representative samples, have found that about 10-15% of women and 20-25% of men engage in extramarital sex. Extramarital sex occurs when a married person engages in Sexual activity with someone other than their marriage partner ^[4][5][6]

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Definitions 3 Prevalence 4 Cultural and religious traditions 4.1 Biblical sources 4.2 Greco-Roman world 4.3 Christianity 4.4 Rabbinic Judaism 4.5 Islam 4.6 Other historical practices 5 Consequences 5.1 Criminal penalties 5.2 Other consequences 6 References 7 Links 8 See also

Etymology

The word adultery originates not from "adult", as is commonly thought, but from the Late Latin word for "to alter, corrupt": adulterare. Vulgar Latin (in Latin sermo vulgaris, "folk speech" is a Blanket term covering the popular Dialects and Sociolects of the Latin ^[7]

Adulterare in turn is formed by the combination of ad ("towards"), and alter ("other"), together with the infinitive form are (making it a verb). In Grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages Thus the meaning is literally "to make other". In contrast, the word "adult" (meaning a person of mature years) comes from another Latin root, adolescere, meaning to grow up or mature: a combination of ad ("towards"), alere ("to nourish", "to grow"), and the inchoative infix sc (meaning "to enter into a state of"). For the 2008 British film by Noel Clarke see Adulthood (film. Inchoative aspect (also called inceptive aspect) is a Verbal category referring to an action soon to take place An infix is an Affix inserted inside a stem (an existing word ^[8]

Definitions

Although the definition of "adultery" differs in nearly every legal system, the common theme is sexual relations outside of marriage, in one form or another. Human sexual behavior or different human sexual practices encompass a wide range of activities such as strategies to find or attract partners ( Mating and display

For example, 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. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous "^[9] North Carolina defines adultery as when any man and woman "lewdly and lasciviously associate, bed and cohabit together. North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States "^[10] Minnesota defines adultery as: "when a married woman has sexual intercourse with a man other than her husband, whether married or not, both are guilty of adultery". Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers ^[11] Adultery is against the governing law of the U.S. military. The Uniform Code of Military Justice ( UCMJ,,) is the foundation of Military law in the United States.

Adultery was known in earlier times by the legal term "criminal conversation" (another term, alienation of affection, is used when one spouse deserts the other for a third person). At Common law, alienation of affections is a Tort action brought by a deserted spouse against a third party alleged to be responsible for the failure of the Marriage

A marriage in which both spouses agree to accept sexual relations by either partner with another person is a form of nonmonogamy, and the spouses would not treat the sexual relations as adultery, although it could still be considered to be adultery in some legal jurisdictions. Nonmonogamy is a Blanket term covering several different types of Interpersonal relationship in which some or all participants have multiple marital,

Some cultures distinguish adultery from infidelity: for example, Germany defines adultery as a "crime against marriage",^[12] while infidelity is not. See also Adultery Infidelity can be defined as any violation of the mutually agreed-upon rules or boundaries of a relationship and is a breach of faith in an inter-personal Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. See also Adultery Infidelity can be defined as any violation of the mutually agreed-upon rules or boundaries of a relationship and is a breach of faith in an inter-personal

In Canada, though the written definition in the 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. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Canada's Divorce Act (RS 1985 c 3 (2nd Supp is the federal Act that governs divorce in that country British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C The Civil Marriage Act (full title " An Act respecting certain aspects of legal capacity for marriage for civil purposes " was Legislation legalizing

Prevalence

Alfred Kinsey has found in his studies that 50% of males and 26% of females had extramarital sex ^[13]. Alfred Charles Kinsey (June 23 1894 &ndash August 25 1956 was an American Biologist and professor of Entomology and Zoology, who in 1947 Depending on studies, it was estimated that 26-50% of men and 21-38% women^[14], or 22. 7% of men and 11. 6% of women had extramarital sex^[15]. Other authors say that between 20% and 25% Americans had sex with someone other than their spouse^[16]. Durex's Global Sex Survey has found that 44% of adults worldwide have had one-night extramarital sex and 22% have had an affair^[17]. Durex is the trademarked name for a range of Condoms made by UK -based multinational SSL International. But there were also studies that have shown rates of extramarital sex as low as 2. 5%^[14]. As many authors say, this kind of estimates are probably understated because extramarital sex is commonly disapproved.

Cultural and religious traditions

Close relationships

Affinity • Attachment • Bonding • Boyfriend • Casual • Cohabitation • Compersion • Concubinage • Consort • Courtship • Divorce • Domestic partnership • Dower, dowry, and bride price • Family • Friendship • Girlfriend • Husband • Infatuation • Intimacy • Jealousy • Limerence • Love • Marriage • Monogamy • Nonmonogamy • Passion • Pederasty • Platonic love • Polyamory • Polyfidelity • Polygamy • Psychology of monogamy • Relationship abuse • Romance • Separation • Sexuality • Serial monogamy • Sexual orientation • Significant other • Soulmate • Wedding • Widowhood • Wife  This box: view • talk • edit

Main article: Religious views on sexual intercourse

Biblical sources

The Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh or Christian Old Testament) prohibits adultery in the seventh of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:14). The term Hebrew Bible is a generic reference to those books of the Bible originally written in Biblical Hebrew (and the related Biblical Aramaic See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, are a list of religious and moral imperatives that according to Judeo-Christian tradition were authored by God and given

Deuteronomy 22:22 defines adultery as sexual relations between a married woman and a man other than her husband. Both are guilty, and the penalty is death:

If a man commits adultery with another man's wife — with the wife of his neighbor — both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. ^[18]

A consequence is that, under biblical law, sexual relations by an unmarried woman does not lead to adultery, whether the man is married or not.

These provisions are consistent with the provisions covering the practice of polygyny. Polygyny (which comes from neo- Greek: πολύ poly "many" + γυνή gyny "woman" is a specific form of Polygamy, It also fits with the prohibition of polyandry, as a woman cannot be married to more than one man without committing adultery. In Social anthropology and Sociobiology, polyandry ( Greek: poly - many andros - man refers to a form of polygamous It has been suggested that the reasoning of these rules is to ensure that a child's paternity is always known, and not in doubt.

Greco-Roman world

A similar rule applied in the old Roman Law. Roman law is the legal system of Ancient Rome. As used in the West the term commonly refers to legal developments prior to the Roman/Byzantine state's adopting That is, 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 a crime against the wife for a husband to have sex with a slave or an unmarried woman. ^[19]

It is well known that the Roman husband often took advantage of his legal immunity. Thus we are told by the historian Spartianus that Verus, the imperial colleague of Marcus Aurelius, did not hesitate to declare to his reproaching wife: "Uxor enim dignitatis nomen est, non voluptatis. The Augustan History ( Lat Historia Augusta) is a late Roman collection of biographies in Latin of the Roman Emperors their junior Verus may refer to Verus (senator (died 219 Roman centurion and senator Verus (gladiator, famous Roman gladiator Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (often referred to as "the wise" ( April 26, 121 – March 17, 180) was Roman Emperor " ('Wife' connotes rank, not sexual pleasure) (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". A Legal Maxim is an established principle or proposition The Latin term apparently a variant on maxima, is not to be found in Roman law with any meaning Domitius Ulpianus (died 228 anglicized as Ulpian, was a Roman Jurist of Tyrian ancestry ^[20]

The lending of wives practiced among some peoples was, as Plutarch tells us, encouraged also by Lycurgus, though from a motive other than that which actuated the practice (Plutarch, Lycurgus, XXIX). Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Greek: Μέστριος Πλούταρχος c The recognized license of the Greek husband may be seen in the following passage of the Oration against Neaera, the author of which is uncertain, though it has been attributed to Demosthenes:

We keep mistresses for our pleasures, concubines for constant attendance, and wives to bear us legitimate children and to be our faithful housekeepers. For the Athenian general see Demosthenes (general. For the ancient physician see Demosthenes Philalethes. 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)

Christianity

Early Christian views on adultery diverged from those found in the Old Testament, instead being founded on the teachings of Jesus, notably those in Mark 10:11-12:

Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. Early Christianity is commonly defined as the Christianity of the three centuries between the Crucifixion of Jesus ( c In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.

and Luke 16:18

Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

However, Jesus makes an exception to this standard for cases of fornication on the part of the wife (see Matthew 5:32 and 19:9). Fornication, or simple fornication is a term which refers to voluntary Sexual intercourse between persons not married to each other ^[21]

But, paradoxically, in another pronouncement, Jesus seems to take the definition much further, making no distinction as to whether the woman was married or not, or even whether sexual contact was even involved:

But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:28)

This is clearly a different standard from the laws of the Old Testament, where adultery referred only to actual sexual intercourse involving a married woman. Nor is divorce and subsequent re-marriage the standard set out in the Old Testament.

However, as the Christian Church evolved, the definition of adultery relaxed considerably from the standard attributed to Jesus, and come closer to the original meaning found in the Old Testament. For example the modern Catechism of the Catholic Church defines adultery as follows: "When two partners, of whom at least one is married to another party, have sexual relations—even transient ones—they commit adultery. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, or CCC, is an official exposition of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and the twenty-two "^[22]

Adultery is considered by most Christians to be immoral and a sin, based primarily on passages like 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. Sin is a term used mainly in a religious context to describe an act that violates a moral Rule, or the state of having committed such a violation

Rabbinic Judaism

Though the Torah prescribes the death penalty by stoning for adultery, the legal procedural requirements were very exacting and required the testimony of three witnesses of good character for conviction. term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to Stoning, or lapidation, refers to a form of Capital punishment whereby an organized group throws stones at the convicted individual until the person dies In practice, nobody is convicted of adultery.

At the civil level, however, Jewish law (halakha) forbids a man to continue living with an adulterous wife, and he is obliged to divorce her. Halakha ( הלכה; alternative transliterations include Halocho and Halacha) is the collective body of Jewish Religious law 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, he must give her a divorce as if they were married.

Also, Jewish law recognizes the "law of the land" in these matters, so that if the law of the land has greater restrictions, then they will also apply.

Islam

Main article: Zina (Arabic)

Under Muslim law, adultery (as is premarital sex and extramarital sex in general) is sexual intercourse by a married person, whether man or woman. Zina (الزناء in Islam is Extramarital sex and premarital sex Sharia ( Arabic: ar شريعة) is the body of Islamic Religious law. Fornication, or simple fornication is a term which refers to voluntary Sexual intercourse between persons not married to each other Extramarital sex occurs when a married person engages in Sexual activity with someone other than their marriage partner Sexual intercourse, in its biological sense is the act in which the male reproductive organ (in humans and other higher animals enters the female reproductive tract It is a violation of the marital contract and one of the major sins and condemned by God in the Qur'an. The Qur’an ( القرآن, literally "the recitation" also sometimes transliterated as Qur’ān, Koran, Alcoran

Qur'anic verses prohibiting adultery include:

"Do not go near to adultery. Surely it is a shameful deed and evil, opening roads (to other evils)" (Quran 17:32).

"Say, 'Verily, my Lord has prohibited the shameful deeds, be it open or secret, sins and trespasses against the truth and reason"' (Quran 7:33).

"Women impure are for men impure, and men impure are for women impure and women of purity are for men of purity, and men of purity are for women of purity. " (Quran 24:26)

Though strict Muslim law prescribes severe punishments for extramarital sex, by both men and women (premarital sex is punishable with up to 100 lashes, while adultery is punishable by stoning), to obtain conviction, the act of sexual penetration must be attested by at least four male Muslim witnesses of good character, with the accused having a right to testify and their testimony given the most weight in the eyes of the judge(s). Flagellation is the act of whipping (Latin flagellum, "whip" the human body Stoning, or lapidation, refers to a form of Capital punishment whereby an organized group throws stones at the convicted individual until the person dies Sexual penetration is the Penetration of a Bodily orifice, such as the Vagina, Anus or Mouth, with a body part or another object A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about a Crime or dramatic event through their Senses (e Also, punishments are reserved to the legal authorities and false accusations are to be punished severely. ^[23][24] It has been said that these legal procedural requirements were instituted to make it impossible to obtain conviction. ^[25]

Other historical practices

Historically, adultery was rigorously condemned and punished, usually only as a violation of the husband's rights. Among such peoples the wife was commonly reckoned as the property of her spouse, and adultery was therefore identified with theft. But it was theft of an aggravated kind, as the property which it would spoliate was more highly appraised than other chattels. It is not the seducer alone who suffers.

Sever penalties were imposed on an adulterous wife by her husband. In many instances she is made to endure a bodily mutilation which will, in the mind of the aggrieved husband, prevent her from ever being a temptation to other men again (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; also H. H. Bancroft, The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America, I, 514).

If, however, the wronged husband could visit swift and terrible retribution upon the adulterous wife, the latter was allowed no cause against the unfaithful husband; and this discrimination found in the practices of ancient peoples is moreover set forth in nearly all ancient codes of law.

The Laws of Manu of ancient India, for example, said: "though destitute of virtue or seeking pleasure elsewhere, or devoid of good qualities, yet a husband must be constantly worshiped as a god by a faithful wife"; on the other, hand, "if a wife, proud of the greatness of her relatives or [her own] excellence, violates the duty which she owes to her lord, the king shall cause her to be devoured by dogs in a place frequented by many. The Manu Smriti ( Sanskrit: मनुस्मृति is a work of Hindu law and ancient Indian society " (Laws of Manu, V, 154; VIII, 371)

Consequences

Criminal penalties

In some countries, including Korea, Taiwan and Mexico, adultery is a crime. In Law, jurisdiction (from the Latin ius iuris meaning "law" and dicere meaning "to speak" is the practical Authority Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries a civilization and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America.

Adultery had at one time attracted severe sanctions, including the death penalty. Sanctions are usually monetary fines, levied against a party to a Legal action or his/her Attorney, for violating rules of procedure Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. In some places, the method of punishment for adultery is stoning to death. Stoning, or lapidation, refers to a form of Capital punishment whereby an organized group throws stones at the convicted individual until the person dies [1]

In some Muslim countries, some interpretations of the hadith call for adultery to be punished by stoning to death for the married person. Hadith ( ar الحديث, pl aḥadīth; lit. "narrative" are oral Traditions relating to the words and deeds of the Islamic Stoning, or lapidation, refers to a form of Capital punishment whereby an organized group throws stones at the convicted individual until the person dies This is the position under Iran's Islamic law. Sharia ( Arabic: ar شريعة) is the body of Islamic Religious law. Nowadays, Iranian officials are banning stoning because of social objections. Proving adultery under Muslim law can be a very difficult task as it requires the accuser to produce four eye witnesses to the act of sexual intercourse, each of whom should have a good reputation for truthfulness and honesty.

In Pakistan, adultery is a crime under the Hudood Ordinance. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and The Hudood Ordinance (حدود مسودہ (also spelled Hudud) was a law in Pakistan that was enacted in 1979 as part of then military ruler Zia-ul-Haq's The Ordinance sets a maximum penalty of death, although only imprisonment and corporal punishment have ever actually been imposed. Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. A prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned and usually deprived of a range of Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain intended to Punish a person or change his/her behavior The Ordinance has been particularly controversial because it requires a woman making an accusation of rape to provide extremely strong evidence to avoid being charged with adultery herself. Rape, also referred to as Sexual assault, is an Assault by a person involving Sexual intercourse with or Sexual penetration of another person A conviction of a man for rape is only possible with evidence from no less than four witnesses. In recent years high-profile rape cases in Pakistan have given the Ordinance more exposure than similar laws in other countries. ^[26] Similar laws exist in some other Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, KSA ( المملكة العربية السعودية, al-Mamlaka al-ʻArabiyya as-Suʻūdiyya) or Suudi

In Indian law, adultery is defined as sex between a man and a woman without the consent of the woman's husband. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The man is prosecutable and can be sentenced for up to 5 years (even if he himself was unmarried) whereas the married woman can not be jailed [2]. Men have accused of gender discrimination in that women can never be prosecuted for adultery [3]. The National Commission of Women has criticized this British era law of being anti-feminist as it treats women as the property of their husbands and has consequentially recommended deletion of the law or reducing it to a civil offense, but the Government of India is yet to act [4]. Extra marital sex without the consent of one's partner can be a valid grounds for monetary penalty on government employees, as ruled by the Central Administrative Tribunal [5].

Most countries of the European Union, such as Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland or Sweden do not treat adultery as a crime. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in Austria (Österreich ( officially the Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation.

In the United States, laws vary from state to state. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In those States where adultery is still on the statute books, even though they are rarely prosecuted, the penalties vary from life sentence (Michigan)[6], 2 years imprisonment (Pennsylvania), or a fine of $10 (Maryland). Life imprisonment or life incarceration is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime often for most Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern In the U.S. Military, adultery is a potential court-martial offense. The United States Armed Forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States A court-martial (plural courts-martial) is a Military court. These military courts can determine Punishments for members of the Military subject [7] The enforceability of adultery laws in the United States has been / is being questioned following Supreme Court decisions since 1965 relating to privacy and sexual intimacy of consenting adults, in cases such Lawrence v. Texas. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. Lawrence v Texas, 539 US 558 ( 2003) was a landmark United States Supreme Court case

Other consequences

In addition, adultery has been grounds for divorce under fault-based divorce laws. Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the termination of a Marriage. Family law is an area of the Law that deals with family-related issues and Domestic relations including but not limited to the nature of

In the original Napoleonic Code, a man could ask to be divorced from his wife if she committed adultery, but the philandery of the husband was not a sufficient grounds for divorce unless he had kept his concubine in the family home. The Napoleonic Code, or Code Napoléon (originally called the Code civil des Français) is the French Civil code, established under See also Adultery Infidelity can be defined as any violation of the mutually agreed-upon rules or boundaries of a relationship and is a breach of faith in an inter-personal Concubinage is the state of a woman or youth in an ongoing quasi-matrimonial relationship with a man of higher social status

In Canadian law, adultery is defined under the Divorce Act. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Canada's Divorce Act (RS 1985 c 3 (2nd Supp is the federal Act that governs divorce in that country Though the written definition sets it as extramarital relations with someone of the opposite sex, the Civil Marriage Act gave grounds for a British Columbia judge to strike that definition down. The Civil Marriage Act (full title " An Act respecting certain aspects of legal capacity for marriage for civil purposes " was Legislation legalizing British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C In a 2005 case of a woman filing for divorce, her husband had cheated on her with another man, which the judge felt was equal reasoning to dissolve the union.

Apart from criminal consequences, historically adulterers have suffered from society's disapproving attitudes toward them. The nature of these attitudes vary widely depending on local culture, religion and values, and how seriously the adulterer regards the opinions of others.

References

Links

• Best Practices: Progressive Family Laws in Muslim Countries (August 2005} [8]
• Hamowy, Ronald. Medicine and the Crimination of Sin: "Self-Abuse" in 19th Century America. pp2/3 [9]
• Moultrup, David J. (1990). Husbands, Wives & Lovers. New York: Guilford Press.
• Glass, S. P. , & Wright, T. L. (1992). Justifications for extramarital relationships: The association between attitudes, behaviors, and gender. Journal of Sex Research, 29, 361-387. The Journal of Sex Research (or JSR, ISSN 0022-4499 is published by the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality registered in New York City
• Jack Goody A Comparative Approach to Incest and Adultery The British Journal of Sociology, Vol. Sir John ( Jack Rankine Goody (born 1919 is a British social anthropologist. 7, No. 4 (Dec. , 1956), pp. 286-305 doi:10. 2307/586694
• Pittman, F. (1989). Private Lies. New York: W. W. Norton Co.
• Rubin, A. M. , & Adams, J. R. (1986). Outcomes of sexually open marriages. Journal of Sex Research, 22, 311-319.
• Vaughan, P. (1989). The Monogamy Myth. New York: New Market Press.
• Blow, Adrian J, Hartnett, Kelley. (Apr 2005). Infidelity in Committed Relationships I: A Methodological Review. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. [10]
• Blow, Adrian J, Hartnett, Kelley. (Apr 2005). Infidelity in Committed Relationships II: A Substantive Review. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. [11]

See also

• Adultery in literature
• Affair
• Cuckold
• Emotional affair
• Family therapy / Relationship counseling
• Fornication
• Honor killing
• Incidence of monogamy
• Mistress
• Open marriage
• Swinging

The theme of Adultery features in a wide range of Literature through the ages For other uses see Love Affair or Scandal An affair may refer to a form of nonmonogamy, to Infidelity or to Adultery. A cuckold is a married man whose wife has sex with other men In current usage it sometimes refers to non-married couples in committed relationships as well although the traditional meaning An " emotional affair " is an Affair excluding sexual Intimacy but including Emotional intimacy. Family therapy, also referred to as couple and family therapy and family systems therapy, is a branch of Psychotherapy that works with families Relationship counseling is the process of Counseling the parties of a relationship in an effort to recognize and to better manage or reconcile troublesome differences Fornication, or simple fornication is a term which refers to voluntary Sexual intercourse between persons not married to each other An honor killing or honour killing is generally the Murder of a family or clan member most often females when they (and maybe the wider community believe The incidence of monogamy refers to the frequency with which monogamy occurs A mistress is a man's long term female Sexual partner and companion who is not married to him especially used when the man is married to another woman Open marriage typically refers to a Marriage in which the partners agree that each may engage in extramarital sexual relationships, without this being regarded as Swinging, sometimes referred to as the swinging lifestyle, is "non-monogamous sexual activity treated much like any other social activity that can be experienced as a

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org