Why Are Extramarital Affairs Becoming A Silent Social Crisis?

Extra-marital affairs are usually understood to be romantic or physical engagements with a person outside marriage which are not just personal decisions, but carry potential for deep social and cultural ramifications, where family honour and marital permanence have importance. Extra-marital affairs have Traditionally viewed as a moral failure and the number of youth participants in extra-marital affairs is growing because of values shift, digital engagement, and the fading sense of familial attachment and responsibility. The growing incidence is its insidious nature as it promises to erode the trust of husband and wife, destabilize families, and has even been described as leading to an unacknowledged social crisis.

Modernization and urbanization are transforming traditional concepts of marriage and relationships. Many young people are moving into cities, seeking careers, and living in nuclear families - eroding traditional community based social controls. They are also consuming constant media and internet exposure with Western liberal values on love, intimacy, and adultery. Also, the traditional expectations of dedication and marriage fidelity are changing and creating a situation in which many young people increasingly see extra-marital sexual relations as less taboo.

In the digital age, social Media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and messaging apps, have provided a context for the intersection of secrecy and immediacy. Youth use those digital channels for emotional connections that extend beyond their marriages those connections can become extra-marital affairs relatively easily. The privacy-oriented features of these apps and hidden chats, disappearing messages, and anonymity help smooth the way for these types of relationships. This digital access not only promotes emotional intimacy but also affords physical opportunities. In Bangladesh, social media has become a quiet podium of extramarital affairs.

In Bangladesh, the traditional family structure is slowly growing weaker for urban lifestyles, work pressures, and migration are reducing the frequency and depth of interactions among couples. While married partners may not communicate frequently at all, or emotionally, the lack of interaction makes their relatively emptier marriage an easier target to fill. This issue creates a void in marital life. When their emotional needs remain unmet, then love, pleasure, respect, or comfort, they will increasingly look to extra-marital relationships to fill that gap, which further destabilizes the family, and marriage and family unity.

The growing economic and job pressures are taking their toll on marital relationships. Long work hours, work-related stress, and migration for jobs whether in cities or abroad often distance spouses physically and psychologically. Financial incapability creates tension and depression which leading most couple to frustration and lack of satisfaction with each other. Many people engage in extramarital relationships as a way of dealing with loneliness or getting away from the stresses of everyday life. It's difficult to build trust in a marriage while coping with job or economic stress and something like infidelity becomes a major social issue.

There is a strong emotional and psychological component for rising extramarital relationships. Many people experience some form of loneliness, neglect, and become emotionally shortchanged. Many people resort to friendship or uncommitted relationships instead of relying on the committed marriage for social opportunities or counseling. The absence of intimacy makes the person in the secret relationship feel better about themselves. Once an initial physical or emotional need is neglected it can create a pathway toward emotional or physical infidelity. Most extramarital affairs are not merely accidental but can be perceived as a way for people to seek validation, companionship, and the fulfillment of their needs that have gone unfulfilled within their marriage.

Often films, OTT platforms, and peer conversations represent extramarital affairs as intriguing or elegant, hence normalizing them for youths. Stories of passion, secrecy, and emotional thrill make such relationships appealing and help to lessen the stigma usually linked with infidelity. These media and social stories influence viewpoints, therefore making young people more prepared for peer influence, whereby friends might casually discuss or even promote such actions approaching extramarital relationships.

Extra-marital affairs have a negative influence not only on the marriage but also on the family. These relationships break down the trust between the partners, which in most cases results in the spouses being always suspicious, arguing, and being emotionally distant. Such a breakdown of trust is one of the major reasons for the increase in divorce rate as a lot of the couples after cheating cannot get back together. The children that are in such homes might be experiencing emotional abuse, feeling insecure, and having some behavioral problems. Apart from legal divorce, the emotional wounds stay for a long time, which in turn affects the bonding between family members and their social and psychological well-being.

Engaging in an extra-marital affair can be expensive and all the withdrawal symptoms related to the affair can take a toll on mental well-being. People who are experiencing affairs are often anxious, suffering from depression, and feeling a host of guilt when trying to deal with secrecy and confused morality. In communities, this social and communal stigma leads to ostracism, devaluation of reputation and longer-term psychological effects as well. For this, an affair is likely to have a detrimental effect not just on relationships, but also on the overall emotional and mental experience of adults afflicted with an extra-marital encounter.

In Bangladesh, both criminal and family laws are used to deal extra-marital affairs, but there are still some limitations. The law that prohibited adultery, Section 497 of the Penal Code, was abolished in 2020 because it was considered discriminatory against women, as only husbands could file a case. In the Divorce Act and Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, it is stated that any type of sexual relationship outside marriage would be a proper cause for separation. Nevertheless, at the present time, cheating is barely able to be shown in court, and the legal proceedings may cause the affected persons be stigmatized by society. So, although the law is there, it is hard for it to be fully effective due to the attitudes of the community and the difficulties in evidencing to restrain situations of infidelity.

Adultery, or extra-marital sexual relationships, is condemned by both religious and cultural norms. Islam forbids adultery. It is a serious sin, and brings with it moral and punitive legal consequences. Culturally, Bangladeshi society values on family honour, loyalty, and marital fidelity, which is viewed as a dishonor, and damages individual and family reputation. Traditional morality endorses these values and places which emphasis on duty, trust, and ethical obligation characterizing relationship and marriage. For this, extra-marital relationships are regarded not only as personal failures but also as a disruption of social and family unity.

For addressing the increase in extramarital affairs needs a combination of different approaches. One of these is improving communication and emotional connection between family members that can avoid the occurrence of discontentment. Encouraging the use of counseling services and educational programs is one way of enlightening people on the importance of relationships, trust, and the effects caused by cheating and infidelity. By implementing digital literacy among youth and by religious or moral instruction helps in instilling good values. Those effective steps can diminish secrecy, encourage openness, and can lay the foundation for strong, durable marriages and family relationships.
 

MD. Noor Hamza Peash is an LL.B. 
Student in Department of Law, 
World University of Bangladesh, Dhaka.