15 Countries Where Cheating on Your Partner Is a Criminal Offense
Cheating on your spouse may be immoral, but that doesn’t make it a crime. When you live in a liberal democracy, it’s hard to imagine facing a state-prescribed penalty for having an affair.
However, many countries incorporate religious laws when creating their legal systems. In those places, adultery is both a sin and a criminal offense, often carrying harsh consequences like imprisonment or even death.
While many of the countries on this list are far from surprising, there are a few you might not expect. You won’t believe the last country to make the list.
1: Philippines
Doing the deed with anyone other than your spouse in the Philippines could land you in jail. You can also end up in jail for sleeping with a married person, even if you’re not married.
However, Philippine law doesn’t apply equally to men and women. While women who cheat face jail time for one indiscriminate act, men only face consequences if cheating was “performed under scandalous circumstances.”
2: Indonesia
Technically, the Indonesian government doesn’t have a written law against cheating. Still, most of the country is Muslim and lives by Sharia law.
Under Sharia law, cheating is a criminal offense. Punishments vary from province to province and range from being flogged with lashes to being stoned to death.
3: Taiwan
Taiwan was one of the last remaining liberal democracies to criminalize adultery. Though they lifted the law in 2020, citing that it was unconstitutional, over 1,000 people were convicted between 2016 and 2019.
Those convicted often faced prison sentences of up to four months per act. While the law is no longer in force, polls showed that the majority of Taiwanese citizens were in favor of keeping it.
4: Brunei
Historically, Brunei was against the death penalty. However, in 2019, the kingdom made headlines for passing a law that made adultery a capital crime.
The Brunei adultery law calls for offenders to be stoned to death. After its passing, the international outrage was so great that Brunei’s Sultan said that although the law exists, it would not be enforced.
5: Nigeria
Some of Nigeria’s northern states abide by Sharia law, which makes adultery a crime. According to one study, enforcement in these areas often includes stoning the offender to death.
However, it seems legislators in Nigeria rarely enforce adultery laws. One of the last cases to make headlines occurred in 2003 when a Nigerian mother was sentenced to death by stoning after giving birth more than nine months after her divorce. Her sentence was overturned after an international outcry by human rights groups.
6: Afghanistan
In 2024, the Taliban, which rules Afghanistan, affirmed that they would enforce Sharia laws regarding adultery. NPR reported that they would stone people found cheating, especially women.
The Supreme Leader of the Taliban, Haibatullah Akhundzada, gave an audio statement that said, “We will flog the women … we will stone them to death in public.” He went on to defend the decision, saying, “You may call it a violation of women’s rights when we publicly stone or flog them for committing adultery because they conflict with your democratic principles… [But] I represent Allah, and you represent Satan.”
7: Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is an Islamic state, and its judicial system closely mimics Sharia law. With that, they have flogged and stoned convicted adulterers in the past.
For example, in 2015, Saudi Arabia sentenced one woman to death by stoning. Her partner was only given 100 lashes for the crime.
8: Pakistan
In Pakistan, adultery is a crime, and cheating could technically get you stoned to death. However, since the country’s formation, no one has ever faced such a harsh sentence.
Instead, those caught cheating on their spouse are more likely to face lengthy imprisonment. In 2006, the country passed the “Protection of Women Act,” which hindered adultery sentencing even further and freed over 1,000 women facing adultery charges.
9: Sudan
Sudan’s criminal law states that adulterers are subject to capital punishment, including being stoned to death. However, there’s no evidence that the death penalty has been carried out in recent years.
Still, there are several examples of women being sentenced to death for supposed acts of adultery. While the government promised to remove death by stoning as a possible consequence of adultery in 2015, human rights groups say they never did so.
10: Uganda
Uganda does not officially criminalize cheating anymore. However, there’s evidence that the police force in some areas of the country still treats it as a criminal act.
In 2022, two supposed adulterers were arrested and interrogated by police. The officer leading the investigation was later charged with discreditable conduct, but it seems at least some of the country’s officials are still in support of criminalizing adultery.
11: Rwanda
According to Rwanda’s criminal code, adultery is a criminal offense. Both the offending spouse and the person they cheat with can be prosecuted.
The punishment for cheating on your spouse in Rwanda ranges from a hefty fine to a prison sentence of up to a year. Things get worse for cheaters who live with their lovers. In that case, they could face up to two years in prison.
12: Egypt
Egyptian Penal Code 274 states that any woman convicted of adultery faces imprisonment of up to two years. Convicted men, meanwhile, are only subject to a maximum of six months in prison.
Egyptian law also discriminates by gender when it comes to proving someone’s a cheater. Women are adulterers anytime they cheat, but men are only considered guilty if they cheat inside their marital home.
13: The Maldives
Islam is the state religion in the Maldives, and the country closely follows Sharia law. As such, the punishment for adultery is flogging or stoning to death.
There is evidence of women being sentenced to death by stoning after adultery convictions in the country. However, in the cases that have made headlines, public outcry is so strong that the sentences have been reversed.
14: Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s Penal Code specifically covers adultery. It states that men who knowingly cheat with the wife of another man are subject to up to five years imprisonment.
Unlike many other countries with adultery laws, though, Bangladesh’s Penal Code doesn’t punish the woman involved. It specifically states, “The wife shall not be punished as an abettor.”
15: United States
Cheaters don’t face federal punishment in the U.S. However, there are several states that make adultery a crime.
Per Newsweek, there are sixteen states in which cheating on your spouse is still a criminal offense, ranging from a misdemeanor to a felony. In some states, adultery carries a fine of up to $10,000, and in others, those found cheating could face imprisonment.
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