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Note: This post discusses sexual assault, child sexual abuse, and violence.
Throughout time, people in power have shared a strange obsession with policing other people’s bodies. Be it the government, the church, or the patriarchy, there’s a recurring interest in controlling what goes on in the bedroom. When you factor in the variable that men have authored most of our legislation throughout history, it’s no surprise that we ended up with such a biased and just freaking odd batch of sex laws. Here are 13 of the most shocking ones to date:
1. When Texas became weirdly fixated on the number of dildos a person could own.
In the '70s, Texas passed a law prohibiting one's ability to promote, sell, or distribute more than six “obscene devices” (aka sex toys). The Texas Penal Code defines these criminalized objects as “devices including a dildo or artificial vagina designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.” In 2008, the law was deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Court of Appeals. That didn’t stop Texas from proposing new legislation focused on dildo distribution...
House Bill 1549 was introduced by Hillary Hickland in 2024. The bill proposed a restriction on the sale and marketing of these aforementioned obscene devices so that “non-sexually oriented businesses” (i.e., CVS, Walmart, and Target) couldn’t sell them. HB 1549 never passed, but it definitely stood out as a wee bit bizarre. On an episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Colbert remarked, “Okay, now you’ve gone too far. This is Texas. This is freedom country… You can have my dildo when you pry it — gently, please.”
2. When contraception was considered contraband.
In 1873, Congress cracked down on contraception with the Comstock Act. Under the law, it was considered a federal offense to distribute birth control by mail between different states. After the federal law was enacted, many states developed their own restrictions on accessing contraceptives.
Connecticut eventually made the use of birth control illegal! Even married couples who were caught using contraception could face prison sentences. In 1965, the Supreme Court deemed Connecticut’s law unconstitutional in Griswold v. Connecticut. It was argued that the prohibition of contraceptives violated the right to marital privacy.
3. When male impotence was considered a crime, and public sex trials were a thing.
Épreuve du congrès, or trial by congress, was a common procedure in France from 1426–1712. A wife could accuse her husband of impotence and subject him to a trial in the ecclesiastical courts. The courts could then order them to have sex before a committee of officials (doctors and clergy). If the husband was unable to finish under these circumstances, his marriage would be annulled.
4. When the punishment for having an affair was being tied up and thrown into a river.
According to Law 129 of the Code of Hammurabi, the river decided the fate of those who committed adultery in ancient Mesopotamia. The law states, “If a man’s wife be surprised [in flagrante delicto, or as the affair is happening] with another man, both shall be tied and thrown into the water, but the husband may pardon his wife and the king his slaves.”
5. When women who were “suspected of [performing sex work]” had to endure compulsory medical exams.
The Contagious Diseases Act of 1864 subjected women in England and Ireland who were “suspected [sex workers]” to forced medical exams. If a woman was diagnosed with a disease during one of these exams, she could be detained at the hospital for up to 9 months. If a woman refused to be examined, she could be sentenced to imprisonment. In 1886, activist Josephine Butler led the charge in repealing the Contagious Diseases Act.
6. When consent was implied through marriage, and spousal rape was legal (and in certain places, it still is).
English jurist Sir Matthew Hale introduced the “marital rape exemption” principle to English common law in his 1736 treatise, The History of the Pleas of the Crown. Hale wrote, “The husband cannot be guilty of a rape committed by himself upon his lawful wife for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto her husband which she cannot retract.” This idea became part of British common law, as well as common law in the United States and India.
7. When the punishment for sodomy, aka anal or oral sex, was death by hanging.
The Buggery Act of 1533, as enacted by King Henry VIII, sentenced people who engaged in sodomy to death. The law was pushed forward by Henry VIII’s principal adviser, Thomas Cromwell, whom he’d eventually have beheaded. The Buggery Act is regarded as England’s first law that was anti-homosexual in nature.
8. When fathers were legally allowed to kill their own daughters who committed adultery.
Lex Iulia de adulteriis coercendis was a law passed by Emperor Augustus in 18 BC. Under Emperor Augustus’ policy, adultery was considered a criminal offense, and the penalties were extreme. A father was permitted to kill his daughter and her extramarital lover if he caught them in the middle of intercourse. Additionally, a husband was legally obligated to divorce his wife if she’d been found guilty of adultery.
9. When Florence developed a specific police force dedicated to investigating and prosecuting sodomy.
The Office of the Night, or the Ufficiali di Notte, was a “special magistracy” in Florence that policed the sex lives of citizens from 1432–1502. For 70 years, the main purpose of the Office of the Night was to criminalize sodomy. Author Michael Rocke describes Florence’s laws on sodomy during the Renaissance in his book, Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance Florence. The legislative text reads, “[The government] wishes to root out of its city the abominable vice of sodomy, called in the holy scriptures the most evil sin, and having decided that if what is written herein is done, for the most part this will be accomplished.”
10. When Napoleon Bonaparte had different legal definitions of adultery based on gender.
According to the Napoleonic Code (Civil Code of the French), adultery was only considered a crime for men if they brought their lover into the home of their wife. Under Napoleonic law, anything that happened outside the marital household didn’t count as adultery for men. For women, however, adultery had a much broader definition. Adultery, under any circumstances, was grounds for a woman’s imprisonment and divorce.
11. When Delaware lowered the statutory age of consent from 10 to 7.
In 1871, Delaware’s General Assembly legally changed the age of consent from 10 to 7. The sentence for having sex with a “female child” under the age of 7 was death. The law specifically outlined punishments for “carnally knowing a female child,” but failed to include language that protected male children under the age of 7. In the late 19th century, reformist groups like the Women’s Christian Temperance Union lobbied to raise the shockingly low age of consent in Delaware and other states nationwide.
12. When sex was classified as consensual or nonconsensual based on the location where it took place.
Under Hittite law (1650–1180 BC), both adultery and rape were punishable by death. The definitions for what constituted rape, however, were extremely wrong. Hittite Law §197 differentiated rape and adultery based on the environments in which they occurred. According to Hittite law, “If the sexual encounter [occurred] in an isolated place where the woman could not call out for help, it [was] assumed that it [was] rape and the man [was] guilty, and the penalty [was] death.” Conversely, if sex was had in the married woman’s home with someone who wasn’t her husband, it was assumed to be adultery because of the private environment where it took place (WTF?!) and the woman would be killed.
Matitiahu Tsevat further outlines the law as, “Rape, if the act is committed in ‘the mountains,’ adultery if the scene is ‘a house,’ a place where consent of the (married) woman can be assumed.” Additionally, if the husband of said wife discovered her having sex with another man, he could legally kill them both under Hittite law.
And here’s one that’s somehow still active today:
13. In Nebraska, you can’t legally get married if you have an STD.
So, what did you make of these staggering sex laws from our past and present? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger as a result of domestic violence, call 911. For anonymous, confidential help, you can call the 24/7 National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or chat with an advocate via the website.
If you are concerned that a child is experiencing or may be in danger of abuse, you can call or text the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453(4.A.CHILD); service can be provided in over 140 languages.
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