Adultery

Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept exists in many cultures and shares some similarities in Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

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".

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.

Thus historian Spartianus said that Verus, the imperial colleague of Marcus Aurelius, did not hesitate to declare to his reproaching wife: "Uxor enim dignitatis nomen est, non voluptatis."

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.

[93] 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.

[102] These texts generally condemn adultery, with some exceptions involving consensual sex and niyoga (levirate conception) in order to produce an heir.

[109] 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.

[115] 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".

[116] Kautilya's Arthashastra includes an exemption that in case the husband forgives his adulterous wife, the woman and her lover should be set free.

[119] 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.

[129] Sentient beings without body, state the 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.

Like in Hindu mythology, states Doniger, Buddhist texts explain adultery as a result from sexual craving; it initiates a degenerative process.

[131] 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.

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."

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.

[142] 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.

1 (1751) noted the legal double standard from that period, it wrote:[26] "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".

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 [...]".

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).

[153] 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.

[citation needed] 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 prosecuted and penalized by public entities.

[166][167] 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.

Since most married couples do not routinely use barrier contraceptives,[citation needed] STDs can be introduced to a marriage partner by a spouse engaging in unprotected extramarital sex.

[181] 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.

[183] In recent years, Jordan has amended its Criminal Code to modify its laws which used to offer a complete defense for honor killings.

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.