Dating Website for Married People? Adultery Dating Site Sued for Breaking the Law
An online dating website for married people has been taken to court in France by a Catholic association for breaking a civil law on marriage.
Gleeden.com, which describes itself as a place for "people who live a married life or who are in a relationship but wish to make new encounters outside of their arrangements," was slapped with a lawsuit by the Association of Catholic Families, or A.C.F., to contest the site's legality, according to the BBC.
France's Civil Code says that "married partners owe each other the duty of respect, fidelity, help and assistance."
Jean-Marie Andres, A.C.F. president, said Gleeden promotes marital infidelity.
"There are plenty of other websites out there which promote sexual contact between individuals, but what makes Gleeden different is that its very business model is based on marital infidelity," he said.
Andres said Gleeden offers married women the opportunity to have sex outside of marriage.
"But here in France, people and parliament are all in agreement that marriage is a public commitment. It's in the law. What we are trying to do with our suit is show that the civil code – the law – has meaning," he said.
The case stemmed from Gleeden advertisements that encourage cheating.
Gleeden was founded in 2009 and now has 2.3 million members in Europe, including one million in France, the BBC said.
The report said under the Gleeden model, women do not pay to be registered on the site while men buy credit for women.
Gleeden spokesperson Solene Paillet said many of their clients tell them that "having a secret garden is what saved them from walking out of the marriage."
"We didn't invent adultery. Adultery would exist whether we were there or not," she said.
She said it's up to people to decide whether to register with the site or not.
"All we are doing is filling a demand," she said. "If people see our advertisements and are shocked, well there is no obligation. If you see a nice car in an ad, you aren't obliged to buy it. You make your own mind up."
A.F.C. lawyer Stephane Valory said the case is strong. "Juridically speaking, the case has a solid base. By organizing relationships between married people, it is possible to argue that Gleeden is inciting couples to violate their civic duty," she said.
She said it's up to the court to decide. "Fifty years ago many more people would have been shocked by what Gleeden is offering. Today it is only a minority who notice. So the courts will certainly not rule in the same way as they would have 50 years ago," she said.
