Seduction - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition seduction

Definition :

Seduction, means the offence that occurs when a man entices a woman of previously chaste character to have unlawful intercourse with him by means of persuasion, solicitation, promises or bribes, or other means not involving force, Black's Law Dictionary, 7th Edn., p. 1362.

The inducing a girl or woman to part with her virtue for the first time, R. v. Moon, (1910) 1 KB 818. An action of seduction may be brought by a parent or person standing in loco parentis for enticing away or debauching of the girl, per quod servitium amisit, but no express contract of service need be proved; see Evans v. Walton, (1867) LR 2 CP 615. There must be a legal right or interest by the plaintiff in the services of the woman who has been seduced, Whitbourne v. Williams, (1901) 2 KB 722. A master also, not standing in the relation of a parent, may maintain this action for debauching his servant. The woman herself has no right of action. In ascertaining the amount of damages, the jury should regard not merely the jury sustained by the loss of service, but also the wounded feeling of the parent or person standing in loco parentis.

The (English) Law Reform (Miscellaneous Pro-visions) Act, 1934 (24 & 25 Geo. 5, c. 41), expressly excepts actions for seduction, so that the old common law maxim applies, and the action does not subsist after death.