California Civil Code § 43.5 bars any cause of action for "seduction of a person over the age of legal consent." (§ 43.5(c)). In modern practice, § 43.5 broadly prohibits civil actions by adult victims of sexual exploitation who are coerced into sex through nonphysical means. "Seduction," used in this and similar statutes nationwide, historically meant persuading unmarried, sexually abstinent women to engage in sexual activity using influence, trickery, misrepresentation, or the like. (Richelle L. v. Roman Cath. Archbishop, 106 Cal. App. 4th 257, 267).

In 1939, § 43.5 was enacted to abolish a now-defunct civil cause of action that allowed individuals to prosecute actions for their seduction and to recover damages. Soon after enactment, in 1946, the Court of Appeal upheld a constitutional challenge to § 43.5, holding in part that the tort of seduction prohibited by § 43.5 is contrary to public policy. (Langdon v. Sayre, 74 Cal. App. 2d 41, 46, 168 P.2d 57, 60 (1946) (citing Thome v. Macken, 1943, 58 Cal.App.2d 76, 136 P.2d 116)). Since that time, no serious effort has been made to repeal § 43.5—until now.