Heres a article I was reading....
Criminal penalties
Western countries Most western countries have decriminalized adultery. Adultery is not a crime in most countries of the
European Union, including
Austria,
the Netherlands,
Belgium,
Finland or
Sweden. In some Southern-European countries, adultery can lead to the so called
vendetta, which is illegal (with penalties up to life sentence), but rarely prosecuted.
In the
United States, laws vary from state to state. In those states where adultery is still on the statute book (although rarely prosecuted), penalties vary from
life sentence (
Michigan)
[38], to a fine of $10 (
Maryland), to a Class I felony (
Wisconsin)
[39]. In the
U.S. Military, adultery is a potential
court-martial offense.
[14] 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 as
Lawrence v. Texas; however, occasional prosecutions occur.
[40]
Asia In some East Asian
countries, including
Korea, and
Taiwan, adultery continues to be a crime. In the
Philippines, adultery (defined as consensual sexual intercourse between a married woman and a man who is not her husband) and a related act of concubinage (a man cohabiting with a woman who is not his wife), are considered crimes under the
Revised Penal Code of the Philippines. Adultery is not a crime in
China, but constitutes grounds for divorce.
Middle East Adultery had at one time attracted severe
sanctions, including the
death penalty. In some places, such as
Iran[41] and
Saudi Arabia,
[42] the method of punishment for adultery is
stoning to death. It has been suggested that Iranian officials are avoiding imposing the penalty 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. The criminal standards do not apply in the application of social and family consequences of adultery, where the standards of proof are not as exacting.
Indian sub-continent In
Pakistan, adultery is a crime under the
Hudood Ordinance. The Ordinance sets a maximum penalty of
death, although only
imprisonment and
corporal punishment have ever actually been imposed.[
citation needed] 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. 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.
[43] Similar laws exist in some other Muslim countries, such as
Saudi Arabia.
In
Indian law, adultery is defined as sex between a man and a woman without the consent of the woman's husband. The man is prosecutable and can be sentenced for up to five years (even if he himself was unmarried) whereas the married woman can not be jailed
[44]. Men have called the law
gender discrimination in that women cannot be prosecuted for adultery
[45] and the National Commission of Women has criticized the 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. The Government is yet to act
[46]. Extramarital 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
[47].
Adultery may result in
pregnancy, and the laws of the country that cover
termination of a pregnancy and of
child support come into play.
In addition, adultery has been grounds for
divorce under fault-based divorce
laws.
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.
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.
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