Fornication

Fornication is a term which refers to sexual intercourse between consenting unmarried partners. Sex between unmarried persons is distinguished from adultery by use of the term 'simple fornication'. The origin of the word derives from Latin. The word fornix means "an archway" or "vault" (in Rome, prostitutes could be solicited there). More directly, fornicationis means "of the archway"; thus a euphemism for prostitution.

Fornication is dealt with differently in various religions, societies and cultures.

Religions

For a broad overview, see Religion and sexuality.

Laws

The laws on fornication have historically been tied with religion and the legal and political traditions within the particular jurisdiction. In the common law countries England, the USA, Canada, Australia etc with the exception of sodomy the Courts were not concerned with the private consensual moral deviations of subjects. What laws did exist were purely statutory. In other countries there have been however in many countries there have been attempts to secularize constitutions, and laws differ greatly from country to country. Most Western countries and some secular Muslim countries like Turkey and Azerbaijan have no laws against fornication if both parties are above the age of consent.

Jurisdictions within the United States of America

At common law, fornication was viewed as a private moral deviation and, as such, was never an offence. This legal position was inherited by the United States from England. Later, some jurisdictions, a total of 16 in the South, East and Wisconsin, passed statutes criminalising fornication, generally defined as (vaginal) sexual intercourse between two unmarried persons of opposite sex. Most of these laws were either repealed, were not enforced, or were struck down by the courts as unconstitutional. See also State v. Saunders, 381 A.2d 333 (N.J. 1977), Martin v. Ziherl, 607 S.E.2d 367 (Va. 2005).

With respect to fornication between same-sex persons, or sodomy, the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas rendered the states' remaining laws unconstitutional.

Some states though, continue to enforce laws on fornication and adultery.

In recent years the morality of premarital sex has become a politically divisive issue in the United States, since the prohibition of premarital sex is the basis for abstinence-only sex education, a program advocated by President George W. Bush and many conservative members of Congress. The policy is opposed by groups such as Planned Parenthood, most liberal members of Congress, and citizens who believe that sexual freedom is a right. The debate over abstinence-only education has brought the issue of premarital sex to the forefront of the Culture Wars.

Islamic Countries

Fornication is a crime in many Muslim countries, and is often harshly punished. However, there are some exceptions. In Pakistan, for example, occasionally a charge is filed in order to prevent the accused from leaving the jurisdiction (for instance it is often used against drug smugglers, against whom it may not be possible to show a prima facie case for trial, but a charge of fornication, which requires a lower threshold, can be filed in the interim as the investigation unfolds.) In certain countries where parts of Islamic law are enforced, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, fornication of unmarried persons is punishable by lashings. This is in contrast to adultery, in which one (or both) of the parties is married, where the punishment would be death by stoning.

Historically speaking, corporal punishment is used for sexual crimes in the Abrahamic faiths. Fornication towards someone else's woman (not a wife or a couple) is treated as a violation of property right, the equivalent of rape or stealing.

In Muslim countries punishment is usually according to sharia laws rather than Qur'anic laws, as stoning does not exist in the Qur'an.

See also

• Free love
• Illegitimacy

External links

• Social Determinants of Attitudes Towards Women's Premarital Sexuality Among Female Turkish University Students
• Sexuality, the Modern World, and the Catholic Church
• Sex, Children, Nature