Seduction (tort)
Encyclopedia
The tort of seduction was a civil wrong
in common law
legal systems. An unmarried woman could sue with the tort of seduction to obtain damages from her seducer, if her consent to sex was based upon his misrepresentation.
The suing woman was "usually but not always a virgin".
is a provincial power
in Canada
, so all torts can vary by province.
on March 4, 1837. Amending traditional common law, it allowed fathers to sue their daughters' masters for the tort of seduction. It also held biological fathers liable for children conceived out of wedlock.
The Seduction Act was repealed in 1978.
allowed for a seduced woman to sue for herself with this tort., although damages were capped at 100 pounds. Manitoba
and the North West Territories enacted similar legislation around the turn of the 19th century.
Tort
A tort, in common law jurisdictions, is a wrong that involves a breach of a civil duty owed to someone else. It is differentiated from a crime, which involves a breach of a duty owed to society in general...
in common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
legal systems. An unmarried woman could sue with the tort of seduction to obtain damages from her seducer, if her consent to sex was based upon his misrepresentation.
Legal basis
The tort of seduction was based on "notions of property interests in humans", specifically fathers' property interests in their daughters' chastity.The suing woman was "usually but not always a virgin".
England
Historically, the seduced female could not bring a suit herself. Rather, it would be brought by her father, acting under the legal fiction that the parent-child relationship falls under the master-servant relationship. However, if the daughter was a contracted servant, a suit could not be brought by her father against her master.Canada
Property and civil rightsProperty and civil rights
In Canadian constitutional law, section 92 of the Constitution Act, 1867 provides the provincial government with the exclusive authority to legislate on matters related to property and civil rights in the Province. Note that civil rights in this context is different from what is understood as civil...
is a provincial power
Federalism
Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, so all torts can vary by province.
Ontario
An Act to make the remedy for cases of Seduction more effectual, and to tender the Fathers of illegitimate Children liable for their support was passed in Upper CanadaUpper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
on March 4, 1837. Amending traditional common law, it allowed fathers to sue their daughters' masters for the tort of seduction. It also held biological fathers liable for children conceived out of wedlock.
The Seduction Act was repealed in 1978.
Other provinces
An 1852 statute in Prince Edward IslandPrince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
allowed for a seduced woman to sue for herself with this tort., although damages were capped at 100 pounds. Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
and the North West Territories enacted similar legislation around the turn of the 19th century.