Who Wins in the Crime Called Adultery?

The laws are considered to be protectors of people’s rights, regardless of their age, gender, race, or religion. Any violation to these rights should be dealt with accordingly and justice should be served fairly.

However, such cannot be told when it comes to adultery laws. Even during the early Grecian times, inequality existed. For example, if a married man was caught having a sexual intercourse with an unmarried or slave woman, the act was not considered a crime. There was an implied privilege among the males: they have the pleasure of keeping mistresses to satisfy themselves. The purpose of the wives was to bear their children and to maintain their household.

A Roman law known as jus tori was granted to the husband. It defined adultery in such a way that the husband shall not be guilty of it unless it was with another married woman. It’s no surprise therefore that history can present a long list of names who took advantage of this special kind of immunity, such as Verus, a colleague of Marcus Aurelius.

Under the Shariah law, the penalty for any married Muslim individual found guilty of adultery is stoning. However, before the judgment can be met, there are several factors that should be considered. There should be 4 males or 8 females who can testify that the accused have never performed the immoral acts. The need for 8 female witnesses stemmed from the idea that a single female is only a half man.

Complications may also arise when a divorced woman gets pregnant because of rape. There are Shariah courts that do not honor DNA testing or assessment of probable paternity through other kinds of blood tests. If an unmarried woman gets pregnant because of the crime, she can be convicted because of extramarital affair and be stoned to death. If she cannot prove to the court her case despite her claim against rape, she can still receive grave punishment because of false accusation.

It may be then comforting to know, though, that a man decided to step up and transform these double-standard adultery laws. Richard Gordon, a Philippine senator, had submitted two bills seeking amendment on the present laws for adultery and concubinage. It will facilitate in the establishment of a far more equal judgment for both sexes found guilty of the crime.
It should be known that under the Philippine law, a wife who has sexual relations with a man other than her husband is already considered adulterous. A married man, on the other hand, is not committing concubinage unless he has placed his mistress under a conjugal dwelling or both of them are living together in another place.

The abolition against inequality in adultery laws should be persevered. After all, no one should be above the law.