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Adultery - A Crime against Marriage
What is adultery? It is the crime against public morals
and the
institution of marriage. Find out what causes adultery and real-life
adultery statistics today.
In
layman’s terms, adultery
is defined as any voluntary and consensual sexual relations between a
married
individual and someone other than his/her spouse.
Legally though, adultery
is considered as an offense that is damaging to public morals as well
as a crime
against the institution of marriage. As such, several jurisdictions
define adultery
as a crime that is punishable by law. Laws against adultery also allow
the
innocent party divorce the adulterous spouse.
The
basis for
statutes classifying adultery as a crime is the promotion of peace and
order in
the society by strengthening family relationships and by prohibiting
any action
that weakens the family bonds.
How
criminal adultery
is depends on the jurisdiction however. Some laws declare that both
parties can
be charged with adultery. There are areas where only the married party
can be
charged with adultery while the unmarried party is prosecuted for
fornication.
In some countries on the other hand, an adulterous act only becomes a
crime if
the woman is the married party.
Moreover,
there are
places where a single adulterous act already constitutes a crime while
some
laws require that there should be an ongoing extramarital affair before
it
becomes a crime.
Punishing
Adultery
Adultery,
throughout history, has been negatively viewed by society. Severe
sanctions,
including the death penalty, were passed onto adulterous spouses and
some
places punished adultery by stoning the accused to death.
In
the US,
penalties
for cases of adultery vary depending on the jurisdiction. Some states
penalize
erring spouses with two-year imprisonment terms while some states have
laws
that carry life sentence provisions.
Many
members of the
European Union on other hand, like Netherlands
or Sweden,
do not
prosecute adultery at all.
When
Adultery is
NOT Adultery
Parties
who are
being charged of adultery can offer several types of defenses in court.
- If
the accused party proclaims failure or physical inability to complete
the sex act.
- If
the sex act is a result of rape.
- In
jurisdictions where even the unmarried party can be charged with
adultery, the unmarried party can claim innocence about the marital
status of the individual with whom he/she committed the sex act with.
In
some
jurisdictions, only the innocent spouse can initiate the criminal
proceedings
and begin prosecution for adultery. Nevertheless, some states preclude
the
husband and/or the wife from testifying against each other in court. In
such
cases, the blameless party can file a complaint against the lover of
his/her
spouse.
Adultery
by the
Numbers
- Infidelity
accounts for 17% of divorce cases in the US
although infidelity and adultery have different legal definitions.
- 22%
of men and 14% of women committed adultery at least once in their
married life.
- Younger
couples are more prone to committing adultery than older ones.
- 54%
of men and 70% of women are not aware of their spouses’
adulterous acts.
- 61%
of US population believes that adultery should not be a crime; 35% did;
4% had no opinion.
- 90%
of the US
population view adultery as morally wrong.
- Pornography,
particularly in the internet, is identified as among the major reasons
for the prevalence of adultery.
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