How they punish adultery in different countries (10 photos). Female infidelity: how was it punished in different countries? Punishing women for adultery in India with an elephant

1. Papua New Guinea

2. Medieval Russia

We have already written about the creepy medieval traditions of Europe. But, by and large, Russia did not lag behind. Thus, in 1550, adultery was added to the list of crimes for which the death penalty is provided.

3. Iran

Once civilized Iran is increasingly mired in brutality and gender inequality. Since 1990, Iran has had a discriminatory law, according to which a woman caught cheating on her husband can be executed by any relative of her husband (though only male). But men will face inevitable public censure for adultery.

4. African tribes

There are cruel traditions here that are not controlled by any international laws. So, in some tribes, girls’ female organs are simply cut out for treason.

5. Indonesia

Another country with insane legislation. Here, partners of both sexes can be imprisoned for 15 years for adultery.

6. Türkiye

Türkiye has also moved not far from Indonesia. In the struggle for European integration and women's rights, the Turks decided to equalize the rights of spouses of both sexes. Since 1996, people here have been imprisoned for treason for 5 years, and this applies to spouses of both sexes.

7. China

But communist China only took 7th place in this ranking. Here, both men and women are punished for adultery. Unfaithful believers in the Celestial Empire will face up to 2 years in prison and confiscation of half of their property.

8. Switzerland

One of the most liberal countries is Switzerland. By the way, almost the entire adult population here is armed, so hardly anyone would risk cheating here. But they have a very interesting law - a cheater is prohibited from remarrying for 3 years.

9. Vietnam

But Vietnam, which has recovered from the war, is filling the budget with all its might. Unfaithful spouses are no exception. For treason, a fine of 1 to 3 million Vietnamese dong awaits. This is $50-150 (by the way, the average monthly salary in the country).

10. Mali

Who would have thought that Mali would be the most tolerant state towards betrayal. The territory of this African state is home to a huge number of different tribes, which have very unique sets of laws. But here we want to draw your attention to the liberal Dogon tribe. They allow adultery, except in cases of incest. But even in this case, lovers will only face expulsion from the tribe.

“Woman was created for man, and not man for woman” - this was the postulate propagated by the Russian Orthodox Church. This gave rise to distrust of both sexes towards each other, so marriages were concluded not out of love, but at the will of the parents. In such families, spouses treated each other with hostility and did not value each other - therefore, betrayal often accompanied such relationships, despite the censure of society.

Ancient Rus'

The earliest document that mentions adultery is the Charter of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. It says that a man was considered an adulterer if he had not only a mistress, but also children from her. For cheating on his wife, a man had to pay a fine to the church, and the amount of the fine was determined by the prince. There is a record in the chronicle that Mstislav Vladimirovich (son of Vladimir Monomakh) “visited his wives not sparingly, and she (the princess), knowing that, was not at all offended... Now,” he continued (according to the chronicle), “the princess is like the man is young, wants to have fun, and can do something obscene, it’s already inconvenient for me to guard against it, but it’s enough when no one knows or talks about it.”

Any relationship between a woman and a stranger was considered adultery. Her husband needed to punish his wife's frivolity. If he forgave the traitor and continued to live with her, then he was entitled to punishment. To avoid punishment, a man had to divorce his unfaithful wife, and not delay this moment: “If a wife left her husband with someone else, the husband is to blame for letting her in...”

17th and 18th centuries

In the 17th and 18th centuries, adultery was a reason for divorce. In pre-Petrine times, a husband could get away with a year of penance and a fine; a woman always suffered a more severe punishment than a man. If a woman was convicted of adultery, then after a divorce she had to join the spinning yard, and she was forbidden to remarry. To prove his wife's infidelity, the husband had to bring witnesses. This is reflected in the saying of Vladimir Dahl: “not caught - not a thief, not raised - no b----.”

The nobles were tolerant of betrayal. The peasants treated treason much more harshly and condemned it. However, punishments did not become an obstacle to adultery. This is reflected in the sayings: “When a girl falls in love with a matchmaker, it’s no one’s fault,” “It wasn’t the mother who ordered it, she wanted it,” and especially: “Someone else’s husband is sweet, but it’s not a shame to live with him, but it’s hateful to hang around with him.”

There were many cases when the husband “did not seek a divorce” from the cheater. Often the husband agreed to punish his wife - with lashes, whips or correctional labor. A wife who was caught cheating was forbidden to use her husband's surname. Penance for wives lasted for many years (up to 15 years), or she was sent to a monastery.

The husbands' requests to divorce him from the “unfaithful” were always satisfied. This led to the fact that if a man “no longer needed a wife,” then this was a convenient excuse to get a divorce and start a new family. However, there were many cases when they divorced at the request of their wife.

If a husband was “caught” cheating, then his punishment consisted of a shameful conversation with his “spiritual father.”

XIX - early XX centuries

In the 19th century, as in previous centuries, a wife’s infidelity was treated more strictly than a husband’s infidelity. The man was subject to moral punishment. There was a nuance: in society, a divorced man was unspokenly subject to restrictions on promotion and might not be given the desired position. This situation is described by Leo Tolstoy in Anna Karenina. The common people used “shameful punishments.” Women treated adultery strictly: “Such women sin doubly - they violate purity and corrupt the law... they are embezzlers, non-observers.”

Men used their wife’s “betrayal” as a reason to divorce her, which is why there are hundreds of petitions of this kind in the archives. In this case, the volost courts imposed a formal punishment on the female “traitor” – arrest, community service.

The husband could punish his wife on his own - drive her out of the house, taking away her dowry.

Wives could not divorce their husbands. The men did not consent to the divorce, “and they won’t give her a passport without her husband’s consent.” But a woman could take revenge on a homewrecker for the humiliation she suffered - in the Yaroslavl province, for example, wives could break windows, smear the house with soot and the gates with tar.

In the Yaroslavl province and in the Volga region, a husband could beat his adulterous wife, and in the Volga region it was considered correct to beat her “in public.” In the Russian North, in the Tver and Kostroma provinces, they preferred to “not wash dirty linen in public,” and there old men acted as judges of unfaithful wives and husbands. A common form of female punishment was “harnessing” her to a cart. The husband forced her to carry him, and he beat her with a whip.

In the 20th century, punishments for treason were transformed. Divorces became difficult, and the Soviet government pursued a policy of “strengthening the family.” A person’s private life has ceased to be private, personal relationships and intimate connections have become part of party and Komsomol meetings. Throughout the existence of the USSR, the tradition of discussing family crises at meetings was maintained, and the state policy of a “strong Soviet family” was actively implanted in the minds of citizens.

When people enter into a marriage relationship, the traditions of most countries mean that partners voluntarily give up sexual partners outside of marriage. It is a pity that these traditions are not always perceived by modern people as a guide to action. And often the so-called leftists become an insignificant phenomenon for many, humiliating the partner and devaluing the connection that is already fragile between people. Previously, adultery was always considered worthy of severe punishment, although only for girls, for men it was not so reprehensible.

In different countries, the punishment of women for adultery has always been quite harsh. It was supposed to be a disgrace for the female sex, a strong humiliation for her in front of her neighbors, so that in the future it would be disgraceful for both her and others to look at her. The unfortunate woman did not always manage to survive after this - for example, in eastern countries, beating for treason with the help of various objects could kill the unfortunate woman.

Typically, the further north the region, the milder the punishment, probably due to the fact that there were more men in these parts. For female infidelity, a wicked woman could pay with her ears, lips or nose - as was the case in medieval Europe, so imprisonment in a monastery might not be the worst punishment. But more details about the peculiarities of attitudes and punishment for adultery at different times and in different countries will be given a little further.

In the old days, our Slavic ancestors married not out of love, but according to the will of their parents. Therefore, it often happened that spouses were together not only without sympathy, but also with more intense negative feelings. As a result, spouses often started relationships on the side, although this was highly condemned by public morality.

Moreover, male infidelity was not infidelity itself, but female infidelity was persecuted to the fullest extent of the morality of that time. The Charter of Prince Yaroslav the Wise mentions that a man is not an adulterer if his mistress has children from him. For adultery there was a fine, the amount of which was determined by the prince himself. But in general, there was a principle “if you’re not caught, you’re not a thief”: if no one talks about it and pretends that they don’t know, then nothing terrible happens.

Strangely enough, the stronger half was punished for treason in Ancient Rus': the husband, who forgave his wife who betrayed him, received tangible censure himself, because he let her take the side.

In order to avoid shame and punishment, he should have divorced his wife, and done so immediately, so as not to aggravate the situation.

In pre-Petrine times, the wife was punished many times more severely than the husband. The unfaithful woman, after divorce (inevitable in this case), was obliged to join the spinning yard; she was forbidden to remarry. They reacted especially harshly to infidelity among the peasants (the nobles were more tolerant in this matter, allowing themselves similar pranks). Despite the inevitability and severity of punishment, those who wished nevertheless remained, which was reflected in the folklore of that time and recorded in proverbs and sayings.

In other countries

How in different countries women were punished for cheating on their husbands - you can write dissertations about this, this topic is so broad. Punishment in different countries was based on the traditions and cultural values ​​of a particular country, reflecting its social structure and matrimonial relations. Therefore, the methods of punishment for infidelity were and are so varied that the hairs on your head stand out.

Among the Danes in ancient times, marital betrayal was punishable by death, while murder was fraught only with the usual fine. This showed how seriously this offense was taken in the Kingdom of Denmark. There was no talk of male infidelity.

The Mongols cut the one who stumbled into two parts.

The ancient Bretons flogged her until she died.

The Gauls smeared her body in mud and slop and dragged her along the ground through the entire city. Local residents, as a sign of reproach, could throw anything at her, insult her and beat her.

The Goths did not wait for a trial or permission from external authorities: the husband could independently pronounce a sentence on the guilty party with his own hands.

In China, the offender was coated with lard and thrown to hungry dogs.

The natives of Canada used their characteristic tradition of scalping: they also did this to infidels.

Greece made revenge for such a sin available to any citizen, and he could commit it in any way. But in Sparta, going to the left was not a sin and was not even worthy of reproach.

In Islamic countries, a caught beauty can be stoned to death.

Among the ancient Mongols, execution for treason was very cruel: only by cutting the sinner into several parts, you can sufficiently punish her for her offense. For such a person, a dignified death was impossible - her guilt was too unworthy.

Punishment for treason in ancient times in the East of the Roman Empire assumed a somewhat commercial approach: the sinner was put up for sale on the market, and anyone could buy her. But if the product was not interesting to any of the buyers, then things were really bad...

It is especially painful to hear how women were punished for adultery in the East. The guilty harem inhabitants suffered in a particularly sophisticated way: their bodies were cut in the thinnest sensitive places, lead was melted and poured into the resulting wounds and holes in the body. They could stick wooden nails soaked in sulfur into the body, which were then set on fire, and the flame was kept on for a long time due to the subcutaneous fat of the unfortunate victim.

In Singapore, treason was punished with sticks, and this method is still used today.

The inhabitants of Diyarberkir executed the criminal with the whole family: each family member had to stab her with a dagger.

It’s interesting how the Germans punished women for adultery in ancient times. The punishment itself was simple compared to the previous options - they were quartered. But the prevention was unusual: before a military campaign, the husband put a chastity belt forged from iron on his lady of his heart, and took it off after returning from the campaign.

If we remember how they punished crimes in Babylon, the Talmud talks about four ways to do this in the most painful way for the guilty and indicative for others: strangulation, beheading, burning, and they could also be thrown from a height onto stones.

The so-called Central Assyrian laws gave the right to a husband who caught his wife with someone else to kill both her and her lover on the spot. If he did not do this himself, then the court punished the adulterer in the same way as a husband punished his other half.

Punishment for treason in different countries is very diverse and indicative from the point of view of how significant and important family values ​​are in the culture of a particular country and how they relate to human life.

The most terrible punishments for treason existed in dark times. The sophisticated minds of the Jesuits tortured and punished women in the Middle Ages for such offenses with a deep understanding of physiology. And in any case, the victim was deprived of her property and children, so her only option was to steal or engage in prostitution. What’s interesting is that even if the sufferer was faithful to her husband, but was in no hurry to pay off the marital debt, the state could help the disadvantaged spouse to collect it forcibly. In Barcelona, ​​for example, there was a correctional home where one could take a wife for re-education: there she fasted, prayed, worked tirelessly all day long and, of course, was subjected to very painful physical punishments.

The Spanish code “Seven Partidas” (XIII century) forbade the female sex to copulate with Gentiles - Moors and Jews. True, status (and how wealthy she was, among other things) greatly influenced the degree of censure. A widow or girl was deprived of the property that was at her disposal; repeated adultery was threatened with a bonfire on which both participants in the process were burned. A married Spanish woman received her share of revenge from her husband, since she had nothing of her own, to the point that her husband, in his anger, could burn her in revenge.

In medieval Europe, the penalty for adultery was also severe. Moreover, imprisonment in a monastery was not the worst thing, although there they could order her and strangle her. And even cutting off lips, noses and ears was inferior to another measure of the fight against sinners. Young and not so young ladies were burned at the stake like witches, believing that only fire could save the soul of the wicked from the witchcraft that took her away from her family. Such a fate awaited only female individuals. Great Britain created a law according to which the deceived husband had the right to a one-time monetary compensation. Moreover, the amount had to cover not only the material costs of the husband, which he incurred throughout his married life to support his wife, but also include payment for moral damage that was caused to his pride as a result of his wife’s infidelity.

Among the most terrible practices is female castration - in some African tribes, a person who did not vomit herself was subjected to just such an operation.

No matter how scary all this may sound, there are still a dozen difficult ways to raise a spouse, even if she does not survive after.

Top 10 most terrible punishments for women

• In Turkey, when such a thing was discovered, a terrible fate awaited the wicked woman: she was put in a bag, a cat was also placed in it, and they beat the bag with chains so as to hurt the animal as much as possible. The procedure was performed until the unfaithful woman died in agony.
• In Korea, they forced her to drink vinegar until the unfortunate woman swelled, and then she was beaten with sticks to death.
• Some American tribes, when they discovered a traitor, threw her at the feet of the leader, beat her, crushed all the bones in her body, then chopped her into pieces and ate her with the whole tribe.
• Pakistani women were sentenced to death by hanging under Sharia law.
• In the small kingdom of Luango in Africa, according to ancient customs, lovers are thrown off a cliff.
• In Siam, in ancient times, one of the most cruel executions existed - by elephant: the offender was put in a cage of a special design and the animal was brought to it. The elephant, confident that this was a female of his species, killed her in the process.
• In Northern Burma, female infidelity was dealt with in a very unique way. From early childhood, girls were put rings around their necks, and under the number of rings, the neck gradually became very elongated. When the girl entered puberty, her neck was so long that she could not hold her head up on her own - all the muscles were so atrophied. If a wife cheated on her husband, these hoops were removed from her neck, and she died as a result of a broken neck, or remained crippled for life.
• Afghanistan, through its transitional government, has restored the morality police that once operated under the Taliban. Adultery was punishable by 100 lashes and prison.
• In the most unusual way they punished in Papua New Guinea, and not even the mistress herself, she just remained alive. But a man who had the courage to seduce another man’s wife had his head cut off. But at the same time, before dying, he had to eat his mistress’s finger. The surviving mistress remained with her disadvantage, the whole tribe knew about her guilt and after that it was impossible for her to find a mate. This was her retribution for her action.
• In Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Nigeria, women were stoned for adultery.

Of course, the way they punish treason in different countries now differs significantly from the terrible methods of punishment of past centuries. Now adultery in China, for example, is punishable by two years in prison and confiscation of half the property. Undoubtedly, this is a much more humane way than being eaten alive by wild dogs, as was previously the case. Punishment by stoning is no longer relevant in many countries. fortunately.

Thus, Indonesia punishes women for adultery with up to 15 years in prison.

10 US states now also punish lady walkers with prison sentences. In Minnesota, for example, an errant spouse can be jailed for 5 years or fined $1,000. Or maybe you can get both options at the same time.

One can rejoice at the tolerance of European countries, which, in order to censure for infidelity, choose mainly the property field.

1917, the longest year in Russian history, was also the most turning point. Including the abolition of punishment for treason.

In this regard, our country has found itself at the forefront of “humanization”. Sexual revolution, 1964, the International Congress in The Hague adopted a resolution: “Adultery cannot be considered a criminal offense and therefore not subject to judicial punishment.” In Italy and France, criminal penalties were abolished only in 1975. And before that, for example, Sofia Loren had to leave Italy due to an extramarital affair with Carlo Ponti. In Turkey, crawling with Russia in a race to the European Union, the law was repealed in 1996. In Switzerland, to this day it can be prohibited to enter into a new marriage for 3 years. Brazil abolished the punishment in 2005, and Mexico just recently, in 2011.

1. The Babylonian Talmud names four types of capital punishment: strangulation, cutting off the head with a sword, burning, throwing on stones.
Strangulation was considered the easiest form of death penalty. Its essence was that a piece of linen was wrapped around the neck of the convicted person and two witnesses to the crime or specially appointed persons pulled the ends of the linen in different directions. This death penalty was imposed by the court for crimes such as: beating the father or mother, as well as causing them bodily harm; capturing or kidnapping a Jew for ransom, selling him or her or forcing him into slave labor; having sexual intercourse with a married woman (adultery); adultery against one's husband without the intent to discredit him before the Jews.

2. According to the so-called Middle Assyrian laws (XIV - XIII centuries BC)
A husband who found his wife with her lover had the right to kill them both on the spot. If he did not do this, then the court imposed on the adulterer the same punishment that the husband wished to subject his wife to.

3. In modern Turkey:
Since 1996, punishment for adultery has been provided not only for women, but also for men. Compared to the previous law, it is very lenient - five years in prison. For comparison: in Saudi Arabia people still get stoned for this kind of thing.

4. In Iran, Mauritania, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Nigeria (Islamic countries), according to Sharia, those convicted of infidelity are stoned. Stoning is a form of punishment applied only to married people, and exclusively to women. Men get off with public censure.
At the same time, the authorities are moving towards even greater tightening. Since 1990, Iran has had a law according to which a woman caught in adultery has the right to be killed by a male relative (not necessarily the husband himself) without trial.

5. In Pakistan, by decision of the Sharia court, women can be executed by hanging for adultery.

6. In Afghanistan, the transitional government has restored the religious morality police that operated in the country under the Taliban. The range of punishments for traitors is very wide: from public flogging to 10 years in prison.

7. In Indonesia, adultery is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

8. But the non-Muslim Republic of Papua New Guinea holds the palm in the severity of punishment for adultery. For example, in the Madang district, where ancient Papuan laws are still in effect, deceived husbands are not only allowed, but also ordered to behead their wives' lovers. The wives are not killed, but before execution the condemned man must eat the finger of his mistress.

9. In Germany in the old days people were quartered for adultery. .According to one version, the custom of locking a woman with a padlock (chastity belt) appeared precisely in Germany among the aristocracy. Each time, going on a military campaign, the husband forced the blacksmith to put an iron belt on his wife, which he personally removed after his return.

10. In medieval Europe 15-16 centuries. wives caught in treason were punished by lifelong imprisonment in a monastery or disfigured by depriving them of their nose, lips or ears. The death penalty for treason was also common. The English king Henry XIII sent two of his wives to the scaffold - Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Only women were punished for adultery.
In Great Britain, for a long time there was a law according to which a deceived husband had the right to a one-time monetary reward. Moreover, it must compensate not only the husband’s material costs for his wife throughout their entire life together, but also “the moral damage caused to his feelings and pride.”

11. In Bulgaria, alimony is also collected from the guilty spouse in the divorce - in favor of the innocent one. But in Switzerland they do not take money from adulterers, but the court can prohibit the cheating spouse from entering into a new marriage for three years.

12. In Northern Burma, the problem of punishing women is solved simply and technically: from childhood, girls are put ritual hoops around their necks. They greatly lengthen the neck and at the same time support the head, which can no longer support itself on the atrophied cervical vertebrae. If betrayal is discovered, the hoops are removed from the neck of a Burmese woman. This is enough for her to either die from a broken cervical vertebrae or remain crippled.

13. In some African tribes, a cheating wife was subjected to mandatory castration - her uterus was cut out.

14. In medieval Russia, the Code of Law of 1550 expanded the scope of crimes punishable by death. These included adultery.

15. In modern China: In Guangdong province, local legislators have banned extramarital affairs. The punishment for treason (for both men and women) is two years in prison and confiscation of half the property.

16. In 10 US states there is a prison sentence for going “left”. For example, in Minnesota, both husband and wife can receive 5 years in prison and be fined $1,000, or both.

Punishment for adultery in different countries. In France and Italy, criminal penalties for adultery for both women and men were abolished only in 1975, in Brazil in 2005, and in Mexico in 2011. But in many countries to this day there is a death penalty for adultery.

TOP 10 MOST TERRIBLE PUNISHMENTS FOR MARITAL ADULT IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES:



1. Germany
In Germany in the old days people were quartered for adultery. According to one version, the custom of locking a woman with a padlock (chastity belt) appeared in Germany among the aristocracy.


2. China
In modern China: In Guangdong province, local legislators have banned extramarital affairs. The punishment for treason (for both men and women) is two years in prison and confiscation of half the property.


3. Modern Türkiye
Since 1996, punishment for adultery has been provided not only for women, but also for men. Compared to the previous law, it is very lenient - 5 years in prison. For comparison: in Saudi Arabia people still get stoned for this kind of thing.


4. Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, the transitional government has restored the religious morality police that operated in the country under the Taliban. The range of punishments for traitors is very wide: from public flogging to 10 years in prison.


5. Indonesia
In Indonesia, adultery is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.


6. New Guinea
In the Madang district, where ancient Papuan laws are still in effect, deceived husbands are not only allowed, but also ordered to behead their wives' lovers. The wives are not killed, but before execution the condemned man must eat the finger of his mistress.


7. African tribes
In some African tribes, a cheating wife was subjected to mandatory castration - her uterus was cut out.


8. Northern Burma
In Northern Burma, the problem of punishing women is solved simply and technically: from childhood, girls are put ritual hoops around their necks. They greatly lengthen the neck and at the same time support the head, which can no longer support itself on the atrophied cervical vertebrae. If betrayal is discovered, the hoops are removed from the neck of a Burmese woman. This is enough for her to either die from a fracture
cervical vertebrae, or remained crippled.


9. Pakistan
In Pakistan, by decision of the Sharia court, women can be executed by hanging for adultery.


10. Iran, Mauritania, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Nigeria (Islamic countries)


Since 1990, Iran has had a law according to which a woman caught in adultery or a male relative (not just her husband) has the right to kill without trial.