Where is sex before marriage illegal?

Indonesia’s parliament has approved a new criminal code that bans sex outside of marriage, with a jail term of up to a year as punishment.

The new law “applies equally to locals and to foreigners living in Indonesia, or visiting holiday destinations such as Bali”, said the BBC.

Laws against sex outside of wedlock have also hit the headlines because Qatar, the host of the 2022 football World Cup, has a long-standing ban on sex between unmarried people.

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Here are the countries that have legislated against sex outside of marriage.

Qatar

The nation’s “Zina laws” that criminalise unmarried sex are “based on Islamic legal tradition that classifies sex outside of marriage, pregnancy out of wedlock, and adultery as crimes that are punishable by imprisonment of up to one year”, said Read Nigeria Network.

After any sentence is served, the offender can be deported, according to UK government advice.

Saudi Arabia

In the Gulf state, the authorities require four people to have witnessed the actual act of extra-marital penetration. If this requirement is met, flogging is a common punishment.

However, noted Sky News, in 2019 the Saudis allowed foreign men and women to share hotel rooms without proving they are married “in a move away from its traditionally strict social code and in order to grow its tourism industry”.

The Philippines

Adultery is defined as consensual sexual intercourse between a married woman and a man who is not her husband, as well as a man cohabiting with a woman who is not his wife. Both are considered crimes under the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, according to the Sexual Rights Initiative.

Iran

The Iranian Islamic penal code stipulates that “the penalty for fornication is flogging, that is 100 strokes of the lash, for unmarried male and female offenders”, according to Article 83, with stoning also on the statute book as a punishment.

However, noted IranWire, since 2013 Iranian judges have been permitted to “replace a sentence of stoning to death” with “execution by hanging at their discretion”.

Afghanistan

Taliban officials are using a manual that prohibits sex outside of marriage – which the penal code adopted by the previous government also prohibited, said Human Rights Watch.

In August 2010, a couple were stoned to death in Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan after being found guilty of adultery, reported The Guardian.

Pakistan

Premarital sex and adultery are crimes under the Hudood Ordinances, which sets a maximum penalty of death for adultery. However, it is believed that imprisonment and corporal punishment have been the most serious punishments imposed for the offence to date.

Sudan

Under the country’s Sharia law, premarital sex and adultery are punishable by stoning the accused to death.

In 2012 Intisar Sharif Abdallah, a mother of one, was found guilty of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning. However, noted Amnesty International, the court of appeal overturned the sentence and she walked free after charges were dropped at her retrial.

Egypt

A married woman who commits adultery can be imprisoned for up to two years, said the Sexual Rights Initiative. Any husband who commits adultery in the marital house can be jailed for up to six months.

In 2017 Doaa Salah, an Egyptian TV presenter, was sentenced to three years in prison for merely discussing premarital sex on TV, reported The Guardian. She was convicted of “outraging public decency” in conservative Egyptian society.

Malaysia

Legislation in Malaysia makes it illegal for unmarried Muslims to meet behind closed doors or engage in premarital sex, under the threat of up to six months in prison.

Sharia laws apply to Muslims, who account for nearly two-thirds of Malaysia’s population, in all personal matters. However, non-Muslims are covered by civil laws and are not subject to Islamic courts.

In 2009, 26 unmarried Muslim couples were arrested in hotel rooms during Operation Valentine. The following year, three Malaysian women were caned for having sex outside marriage, said The Guardian.