Countries Where Cheating on Your Spouse Is Actually a Crime

Adultery is no doubt a divisive subject. What constitutes adultery is not agreed upon by all parties, which can make the identification of infractions difficult. Some young people believe that “liking” someone’s post on Instagram can constitute “micro-infidelity.” Still, we doubt most older people would agree with that assessment. Then, there are intentionally non-monogamous relationships that have unique rules as to what constitutes infidelity, agreed upon by the parties of the relationship. The criminalization of adultery is uncommon in the Western world now. All European countries have decriminalized the act and charges for adultery are rare in the United States, too. Let’s look at different countries’ adultery laws to understand where this is a punishable offense and how it can be punished in different places.

To populate this list we started by looking at compendiums of legal codes relating to the topic. Then, we dug deeper into the indicated countries and looked at more recent information about their legal codes to ensure our understanding of the situation was up to date. We did not include any country that we could not confirm laws for. So, some countries that have laws against adultery on the books may not be on this list due to the lack of conclusive evidence in our research. In some cases, the research we conducted was limited due to language barriers.

The Unique Situation of the United States

Adultery remains a legal issue in 15 states of the United States. Punishments for the act of adultery in these jurisdictions vary from a petty offense to a felony depending on the state the act is litigated in. In Maryland, for instance, the punishment for adultery is nominal with a maximum sentence of a $10 fine. However, in Oklahoma, the act of adultery is punishable with up to four years in prison and a felony charge.

Adultery is also a punishable offense under the United States military penal code. Servicemembers found to have committed adultery may be court-martialed by their superior officers for doing so.

In the following states, adultery is a felony offense, which can be prosecuted for a severe punishment such as jail time:

• Oklahoma
• Wisconsin
• Michigan

In the next list of states, the crime of adultery is considered a misdemeanor and may be punishable by fine.

• Arizona
• Kansas
• North Dakota
• Illinois
• Georgia
• Alabama
• Maryland
• Mississippi
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• Virginia

Adultery also violates the laws of the U.S. Territory of Puerto Rico.

Places Where Adultery Is a Capital Offense

The following list is all the countries where extramarital affairs can be prosecuted for capital punishment. The punishment in each country varies. In some areas, the punishment for adultery is stoning. However, this has only been employed in Iran and Syria. Punishments can sometimes be reduced to flogging or other physical attacks against the accused. However, it is exceptionally difficult to prove adultery under Koranic law, which requires the crime to be substantiated by four eyewitnesses who are proven to be of good character and have good records of truthfulness. Producing these substantiations can be very difficult. Oftentimes, the crime is punished by mob justice or inter/intra-familial honor justice. In most cases, the perpetrators of vigilante justice against adulterers are rarely punished, especially when the accused is a woman.

• Afghanistan
• Brunei
• Iran
• Maldives
• Mauritania
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Saudi Arabia
• Sudan
• Yemen
• Qatar
• Somalia

Places Where Adultery Is a Non-Capital Crime

The following list includes any country where adultery is considered a crime but not punishable by capital punishment. In these areas, punishments for extramarital affairs may be imprisonment or a fine, depending on location.

• The United States (Varies by state law, federally declared unconstitutional as per Lawrence.
• The Philippines (Punishes both men and women who engage in adultery and the affair partner as well. Punishments may be more severe for married women than married men.)
• Indonesia (Criminalized under Sharia law. Some provinces in Indonesia have province-unique laws against adultery.)
• Uganda
• Rwanda
• Egypt (Women are sentenced to two years, while men are sentenced to just six months)
• Cameroon
• Algeria
• Benin
• Bangladesh
• South Africa (Innocent spouses can still sue the third-party adulterer for damages despite adultery no longer being a crime in and of itself)
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Chad
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Republic of the Congo
• Cote d’Ivoire (Only a crime for women, not criminalized for men)
• Equatorial Guinea (Only a crime for married women, not criminalized for married men or unmarried couples)
• Eritrea
• Libya
• Madagascar (Punishments may be significantly more severe for women)
• Morocco (The Penal Code further decriminalizes a spouse who attacks, mains, or kills both the unfaithful spouse and/or the affair partner if they catch the two in the act)
• Senegal (Law makes an exception for polygamy by husbands as tolerated by customs, but not for wives)
• South Sudan
• Tunisia
• Zimbabwe (The innocent spouse can sue the affair partner for damages, but not the unfaithful spouse)

Adultery as Grounds for Divorce

Despite adultery not being considered a criminal act, many places retain it as grounds for a fault-based divorce. A fault divorce alleges that the breakdown of the marriage is not an irretrievable difference, but a specific act of one partner against the other that caused the marriage to become irretrievable. Fault divorces are not a criminal offense but remain a legal proceeding and the allegations of adultery can affect things like child custody, property divisions, and alimony in some jurisdictions.

Some jurisdictions, such as Australia and parts of Europe, have adopted a de facto usage of the no-fault divorce model. In no-fault divorces, no allegations of misdeeds are brought against the parties in the divorce. Thus, “moral crimes” such as cheating are not considered in the divorce proceedings when dividing child custody and property and determining alimony agreements.

While it may sound unusual for a divorce to be initiated without “fault” it is a crucial human rights issue. Without the provision of a no-fault divorce, “fault” must be proven for a divorce to be granted by the courts. In other words, no-fault divorces allow you to choose to divorce without proving that moral crime was committed in the relationship. No-fault divorces are especially important for women’s rights. Historically, women were only allowed to initiate divorce if they could prove their husbands had wronged them, and in some cases, not even in that case.

Countries Where Adultery Is Grounds for a Fault Divorce

The following countries do not explicitly criminalize the act of adultery but may consider it in divorce proceedings in a fault-based divorce:

• The United States (Exact codes and handling differs based on state legislation)
• Australia
• The People’s Republic of China
• Republic of China Taiwan
• Canada
• Most, if not all European countries

The Traditional and Customary Ramifications of Adultery

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Some countries do not have government-level penal codes that forbid adultery, but make concessions for traditional and customary enforcement of anti-adultery customs by ethnic groups within the country. Additionally, some countries, such as Indonesia, above, do not have federal-level adultery laws but may abide by other traditional or religious laws, such as Sharia law, which forbids adultery. Indonesia also allows for province-level adultery laws to be implemented and enforced.

Criticisms of Adultery Laws as a Women’s Rights Issue

There are many criticisms of adultery laws that have led to the declaration of unconstitutionality in many jurisdictions. One major criticism of adultery laws involves the unequal enforcement of laws based on gender. In many jurisdictions, adultery laws and punishments differ depending on the gender of the spouse involved. Some countries expressly forbid extra-marital affairs for women while expressly permitting them for men, such as Senegal, which tolerates culturally accepted polygamy for men only. Others have lessened punishments for men compared to women, such as Indonesia which punishes married women with adultery while married men get a lesser charge of concubinage.

Even in jurisdictions where the laws are seemingly equal on the books, women are traditionally punished more harshly than men. The burden of proof may be less rigorous for men accusing women and the punishments may be significantly more severe for women found guilty. In some jurisdictions, even if a woman is not legally found guilty, mob justice may be enacted against her and tolerated by law enforcement instead of prosecuted as murder. Some jurisdictions expressly allow family members to enact vigilante justice against women, such as honor killings.

Thus, adultery laws have come under fire by women’s rights organizations due to the unequal treatment of women under the law.

Criticism of Adultery Laws as a Human Rights Issue

There is also the question of whether adultery, when consensual, falls into the category of private affairs. Although the innocent spouse is emotionally harmed by the affair, many argue that one’s spouse lacks the legal right to mandate faithfulness in the relationship. To allow spouses a legal right to fidelity would be to hand sexual ownership of a person to another person, which constitutes a violation of human rights. Thus, many jurisdictions have adopted the idea that the most the wronged spouse can do is divorce the unfaithful spouse as they cannot legally have sexual ownership of their spouse.

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