Lesbian Lover Ordered To Pay $950 To Husband For Having Sexual Relationship With His Wife

A Japanese woman was ordered to pay more than 1,100,000 million yen ($959) in compensation for having an affair with a married woman. In a ruling dated Feb. 16, a Tokyo District Court ordered the unnamed 37-year-old woman to pay her female lover’s husband who had filed a lawsuit against her for undermining the peace in their marriage.

According to the Tokyo Reporter, the rare court ruling recognised the extramarital sex between the lesbian lover and the married woman as infidelity under Japanese law. This is despite how legal experts in Japan still view the law which states that any person can be taken to court by a spouse of their partner on grounds of adultery if someone has been unfaithful with a member of the opposite sex. In context, this would mean that affairs between people of the same sex were not generally considered to constitute infidelity under the Civl Law even if one or both are married.

Japanese courts are slowly moving to recognize that sex alone is not the only factor that constitutes adultery. Other acts that take place outside of a marriage can disrupt harmony and that infidelity is not limited to acts only between members of the opposite sex.

The 39-year-old husband revealed that the woman and his 35-year-old wife met online and they would meet up to have sex. The woman claimed her lover’s husband was fully aware of her relationship with his wife. She argued in court that his knowledge of her relationship with his wife caused no such harm in his marriage and is not considered as infidelity.

Although the husband told the court that he had consented for his wife to associate with her new lesbian friend, he did not give them permission to have a sexual relationship.

In another recent case, the Tokyo High Court ordered a woman to fork out compensation to her female partner for cheating on her. The court said a same-sex union should be treated as a marriage in law.

Judge Hitomi Akiyoshi said: "A same-sex couple is an agreement between two people, and on that basis, it can be said that it bears the same obligations to fidelity that a legally married couple of opposite genders undertakes."

Earlier this month the Sapporo District Court ruled barring same sex-marriages was unconstitutional. This ruling "was a major symbolic victory in Japan, the only country in the Group of Seven major nations to not fully recognise same-sex partnerships, Reuters reported.