Age of consent
Encyclopedia
While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statute
s, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union
calls it the legal age for sexual activities. It should not be confused with the age of majority
, age of criminal responsibility
, the marriageable age
, the voting age, the drinking age, driving age, or other purposes. Generally, it is set at 16 or 18, but age limits exist as low as 12 and as high as 21. In some countries, it is set at onset of puberty instead of a fixed age.
The age of consent varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The relevant age may also vary by the type of sexual act, the gender of the actors, or other restrictions such as abuse of a position of trust
. Some jurisdictions may also make allowances for minors engaged in sexual acts with each other, rather than a single age. Charges resulting from a breach of these laws may range from a relatively low-level misdemeanor
such as corruption of a minor, to statutory rape
(which is considered equivalent to rape, both in severity and sentencing).
There are many "gray areas" in this area of law, some regarding unspecific and untried legislation, others brought about by debates regarding changing societal attitudes, and others due to conflicts between federal and state laws. These factors all make age of consent an often confusing subject, and a topic of highly charged debates. While there is a lower limit on consent, there is no upper limit.
Traditionally, across the globe, the age of consent for a sexual union was a matter for the family to decide, or a tribal custom. In most cases, this coincided with signs of puberty, menstruation
for a woman and pubic hair for a man.
In Ancient Rome, it was very common for girls to marry and have children shortly after the onset of puberty.
The first recorded age-of-consent law dates back 800 years: In 1275, in England, as part of the rape law, a statute, Westminster 1, made it a misdemeanor to "ravish" a "maiden within age," whether with or without her consent. The phrase "within age" was interpreted by jurist Sir Edward Coke as meaning the age of marriage, which at the time was 12 years of age.
In the 12th century Gratian
, the influential founder of Canon law
in medieval Europe, accepted age of puberty for marriage to be between 12 and 14 but acknowledged consent to be meaningful if the children were older than 7. There were authorities that said that consent could take place earlier. Marriage would then be valid as long as neither of the two parties annulled the marital agreement before reaching puberty, or if they had already consummated the marriage. It should be noted that Judges honored marriages based on mutual consent at ages younger than 7, in spite of what Gratian had said; there are recorded marriages of 2 and 3 year olds.
The American colonies followed the English tradition, and the law was more of a guide. For example, Mary Hathaway (Virginia, 1689) was only 9 when she was married to William Williams. Sir Edward Coke (England, 17th century) made it clear that "the marriage of girls under 12 was normal, and the age at which a girl who was a wife was eligible for a dower from her husband's estate was 9 even though her husband be only four years old."
Reliable data for when people would actually marry is very difficult to find. In England for example, the only reliable data on age at marriage in the early modern period comes from records which involved only those who left property after their death. Not only were the records relatively rare, but not all bothered to record the participants' ages, and it seemed that the more complete the records are, the more likely they are to reveal young marriages. Additionally, 20th and 21st centuries' historians have sometimes shown reluctance to accept data regarding young ages of marriage, and would instead explain the data away as a misreading by a later copier of the records.
A small number of Italian and German states introduced an age of consent in the 16th century, setting it at 12 years. Towards the end of the 18th century, other European countries also began to enact age of consent laws. The French Napoleonic Code established an age of consent of 11 years in 1791, which was raised to 13 in 1863. Portugal, Spain, Denmark and the Swiss cantons, initially set the age of consent at 10–12 years and then raised it to between 13 and 16 years in the second half of the 19th century. Historically, the English common law set the age of consent to range from 10 to 12.
In the United States, by the 1880s, most states set the age of consent at 10-12, and in one state, Delaware, the age of consent was only 7. A New York Times article states that it was still aged 7 in Delaware in 1895. Female reformers and advocates of social purity initiated a campaign in 1885 to petition legislators to raise the legal age of consent to at least 16, with the ultimate goal to raise the age to 18. The campaign was successful, with almost all states raised the age of consent to 16-18 by 1920.
Social (and the resulting legal) attitudes toward the appropriate age of consent have drifted upwards in modern times. For example, while ages from 10 to 13 were typically acceptable in Western countries
during the mid-19th century, the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century were marked by changing attitudes towards sexuality and childhood resulting in raising the ages of consent to ages generally ranging from 16 to 18.
- less than 12
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21+
- varies by state/province/region/territory
- must be married
- no law
- no data available
Sexual relations with a person under the age of consent is a criminal offence. Many different terms exist for the charges laid and include child sexual abuse
, statutory rape
, illegal carnal knowledge
, and corruption of a minor.
The enforcement practices of age-of-consent laws vary depending on the social sensibilities of the particular culture (see above). Often, enforcement is not exercised to the letter of the law, with legal action being taken only when a sufficiently socially-unacceptable age gap exists between the two individuals, or if the perpetrator is in a position of power over the minor (e.g., a teacher, minister, or doctor). The sex of each participant can also influence perceptions of an individual's guilt and therefore enforcement.
These different defences can change dramatically from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, even between neighboring states of the same union with the same age of consent.
, the law is often referred to as statutory rape. The different titles of age of consent laws include statutory rape, rape of a child, corruption of a minor, carnal knowledge of a minor and others. However, in the vernacular
many of these terms are interchangeable and little differentiation is made.
.
images and films. In many jurisdictions, the minimum age for legal participation and even viewing of such productions is 18. Films and images showing individuals under the age of 18 in applicable jurisdictions can be classified as child pornography, even though the legal age of consent in those same jurisdictions is lower than 18. For example in the United States under federal law it is a crime to film minors below 18 in sexual acts, even in states where the age of sexual consent is below 18.
There are no specific age of consent laws in the Antarctic. In the unlikely event of an adult engaging in sexual activity with a minor, under the Antarctic Treaty, scientists and support staff stationed there may be subject to the laws of the country of which they are nationals. Other visitors to the continent may need to follow the laws of the country in which their expedition is organized, or the country from which it departs.
Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
s, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
calls it the legal age for sexual activities. It should not be confused with the age of majority
Age of majority
The age of majority is the threshold of adulthood as it is conceptualized in law. It is the chronological moment when minors cease to legally be considered children and assume control over their persons, actions, and decisions, thereby terminating the legal control and legal responsibilities of...
, age of criminal responsibility
Defense of infancy
The defense of infancy is a form of defense known as an excuse so that defendants falling within the definition of an "infant" are excluded from criminal liability for their actions, if at the relevant time, they had not reached an age of criminal responsibility...
, the marriageable age
Marriageable age
Marriageable age is the age at which a person is allowed to marry, either as of right or subject to parental or other forms of consent. The age and other requirements vary between countries, but generally it is set at 18, although most jurisdictions allow marriage at slightly younger ages with...
, the voting age, the drinking age, driving age, or other purposes. Generally, it is set at 16 or 18, but age limits exist as low as 12 and as high as 21. In some countries, it is set at onset of puberty instead of a fixed age.
The age of consent varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The relevant age may also vary by the type of sexual act, the gender of the actors, or other restrictions such as abuse of a position of trust
Position of trust
Position of trust is a legal term that is commonly used in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. It refers to a position of authority over another person or within an organization, for example as a supervisor...
. Some jurisdictions may also make allowances for minors engaged in sexual acts with each other, rather than a single age. Charges resulting from a breach of these laws may range from a relatively low-level misdemeanor
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...
such as corruption of a minor, to statutory rape
Statutory rape
The phrase statutory rape is a term used in some legal jurisdictions to describe sexual activities where one participant is below the age required to legally consent to the behavior...
(which is considered equivalent to rape, both in severity and sentencing).
There are many "gray areas" in this area of law, some regarding unspecific and untried legislation, others brought about by debates regarding changing societal attitudes, and others due to conflicts between federal and state laws. These factors all make age of consent an often confusing subject, and a topic of highly charged debates. While there is a lower limit on consent, there is no upper limit.
History and social attitudes
Historians have considerable difficulties to overcome the cultural views of their own time regarding both the age of consent and the age of marriage.Traditionally, across the globe, the age of consent for a sexual union was a matter for the family to decide, or a tribal custom. In most cases, this coincided with signs of puberty, menstruation
Menstruation
Menstruation is the shedding of the uterine lining . It occurs on a regular basis in sexually reproductive-age females of certain mammal species. This article focuses on human menstruation.-Overview:...
for a woman and pubic hair for a man.
In Ancient Rome, it was very common for girls to marry and have children shortly after the onset of puberty.
The first recorded age-of-consent law dates back 800 years: In 1275, in England, as part of the rape law, a statute, Westminster 1, made it a misdemeanor to "ravish" a "maiden within age," whether with or without her consent. The phrase "within age" was interpreted by jurist Sir Edward Coke as meaning the age of marriage, which at the time was 12 years of age.
In the 12th century Gratian
Gratian (jurist)
Gratian, was a 12th century canon lawyer from Bologna. He is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Franciscus Gratianus, Johannes Gratianus, or Giovanni Graziano. The dates of his birth and death are unknown....
, the influential founder of Canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
in medieval Europe, accepted age of puberty for marriage to be between 12 and 14 but acknowledged consent to be meaningful if the children were older than 7. There were authorities that said that consent could take place earlier. Marriage would then be valid as long as neither of the two parties annulled the marital agreement before reaching puberty, or if they had already consummated the marriage. It should be noted that Judges honored marriages based on mutual consent at ages younger than 7, in spite of what Gratian had said; there are recorded marriages of 2 and 3 year olds.
The American colonies followed the English tradition, and the law was more of a guide. For example, Mary Hathaway (Virginia, 1689) was only 9 when she was married to William Williams. Sir Edward Coke (England, 17th century) made it clear that "the marriage of girls under 12 was normal, and the age at which a girl who was a wife was eligible for a dower from her husband's estate was 9 even though her husband be only four years old."
Reliable data for when people would actually marry is very difficult to find. In England for example, the only reliable data on age at marriage in the early modern period comes from records which involved only those who left property after their death. Not only were the records relatively rare, but not all bothered to record the participants' ages, and it seemed that the more complete the records are, the more likely they are to reveal young marriages. Additionally, 20th and 21st centuries' historians have sometimes shown reluctance to accept data regarding young ages of marriage, and would instead explain the data away as a misreading by a later copier of the records.
A small number of Italian and German states introduced an age of consent in the 16th century, setting it at 12 years. Towards the end of the 18th century, other European countries also began to enact age of consent laws. The French Napoleonic Code established an age of consent of 11 years in 1791, which was raised to 13 in 1863. Portugal, Spain, Denmark and the Swiss cantons, initially set the age of consent at 10–12 years and then raised it to between 13 and 16 years in the second half of the 19th century. Historically, the English common law set the age of consent to range from 10 to 12.
In the United States, by the 1880s, most states set the age of consent at 10-12, and in one state, Delaware, the age of consent was only 7. A New York Times article states that it was still aged 7 in Delaware in 1895. Female reformers and advocates of social purity initiated a campaign in 1885 to petition legislators to raise the legal age of consent to at least 16, with the ultimate goal to raise the age to 18. The campaign was successful, with almost all states raised the age of consent to 16-18 by 1920.
Social (and the resulting legal) attitudes toward the appropriate age of consent have drifted upwards in modern times. For example, while ages from 10 to 13 were typically acceptable in Western countries
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
during the mid-19th century, the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century were marked by changing attitudes towards sexuality and childhood resulting in raising the ages of consent to ages generally ranging from 16 to 18.
Law
- puberty- less than 12
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
- 20
- 21+
- varies by state/province/region/territory
- must be married
- no law
- no data available
Sexual relations with a person under the age of consent is a criminal offence. Many different terms exist for the charges laid and include child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
, statutory rape
Statutory rape
The phrase statutory rape is a term used in some legal jurisdictions to describe sexual activities where one participant is below the age required to legally consent to the behavior...
, illegal carnal knowledge
Carnal knowledge
Carnal knowledge is an archaic or legal euphemism for sexual intercourse. The term derives from the Biblical usage of the verb know/knew, as in the King James and other versions, a euphemism for sexual conduct...
, and corruption of a minor.
The enforcement practices of age-of-consent laws vary depending on the social sensibilities of the particular culture (see above). Often, enforcement is not exercised to the letter of the law, with legal action being taken only when a sufficiently socially-unacceptable age gap exists between the two individuals, or if the perpetrator is in a position of power over the minor (e.g., a teacher, minister, or doctor). The sex of each participant can also influence perceptions of an individual's guilt and therefore enforcement.
"Age"
The concept of what actually makes up an age of consent differs between jurisdictions. Common examples include:- Fixed age of consent— in most jurisdictions, the age of consent is actually a specified fixed age, such as in the UK where it is 16.
- Onset of pubertyPubertyPuberty is the process of physical changes by which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of reproduction, as initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads; the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy...
as the age of consent— in some jurisdictions, there is no fixed age of consent. Instead, sex is allowed with people who are pubescent or post pubescent. Such jurisdictions include Yemen, but only in marriage, and the states of NayaritNayaritNayarit officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is Tepic.It is located in Western Mexico...
and QuerétaroQuerétaroQuerétaro officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro de Arteaga is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and its capital city is Santiago de Querétaro....
in (Mexico) and Bolivia. This was also the case of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic (RSFSR) during the Bolshevik era before its breakup. - Marriageable age— not all countries have an age of consent, but a number of those jurisdictions (including KuwaitKuwaitThe State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
) make all sexual intercourseSexual intercourseSexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
outside of marriage illegal.
Defenses and exceptions
The age of consent is a legal barrier to the minor ability to consent and therefore obtaining consent is not in general a defence to having sexual relations with a person under the prescribed age. Common examples:- Reasonably believing that the victim is over the age of consent—in some jurisdictions, (such as England and WalesEngland and WalesEngland and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
), it is a defence if the accused can show that he or she reasonably believed the victim was over the age of consent. However, where such a defence is provided, it normally applies only when the victim is close to the age of consent or the accused can show due diligenceDue diligence"Due diligence" is a term used for a number of concepts involving either an investigation of a business or person prior to signing a contract, or an act with a certain standard of care. It can be a legal obligation, but the term will more commonly apply to voluntary investigations...
in determining the age of the victim (e.g., a 15-year-old who used a fake identification document claiming they were 16 or older). - Marriage— in some jurisdictions, including BruneiBruneiBrunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
and IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, it is an exception to age of consent laws if the accused can show that he or she is legally married to the other person. - Close-in-age—while most legislation dealing with age of consent sets a single age under which sexual relations are illegal, some jurisdictions (such as CanadaCanadaCanada 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...
) allow for close in age exemptions. In Canada the unfettered age of consent is 16, but there are two close-in-age exemptions: minors 14-15 may have sex with a partner who is five years older, and minors aged 12–13 may have sex with a partner who is less than two years older. Some states in the United States also allow these exceptions, sometimes called Romeo and Juliet laws, although not all states do, for example, in Delaware, the unfettered age of sexual consent is 18, but minors 16-17 are allowed to have sex with each other and with adults below the age of 30.
These different defences can change dramatically from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, even between neighboring states of the same union with the same age of consent.
Discrepancies and inconsistencies
The age of consent is not always consistent, even within the same jurisdiction. In many countries, there are numerous discrepancies. Common examples include- Homosexual and heterosexual age discrepancies – some jurisdictions, such as The BahamasThe BahamasThe Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
, BermudaBermudaBermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, ParaguayParaguayParaguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
and SurinameSurinameSuriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
–have a higher age of consent for homosexualHomosexualityHomosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
intercourse. In the United Kingdom for example the age of consent was originally 21 for homosexual behavior, while it was 16 for heterosexual behavior However, such discrepancies are increasingly being challenged. In both CanadaCanadaCanada 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...
and the AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n state of QueenslandQueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, the age of consent for anal sexAnal sexAnal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...
is officially higher at 18 years, compared with 16 years for vaginal and oral sex. In the Canadian provinces of OntarioOntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, this discrepancy has been declared unconstitutional by courts. - Gender-age differentials – in some jurisdictions (such as IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
), there are different ages of consent for heterosexual sexual activity that are based on the gender of each person. In countries, where there are gender-age differentials, usually, the ages for males are higher than the ages for females. For example, in Indonesia, males must be 19 years old and females must be 16 years old. There are also numerous jurisdictions—such as Kuwait and PalestinePalestinian National AuthorityThe Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...
--in which marriage laws govern the gender-age differential. In these jurisdictions, it is illegal to have sexual intercourseSexual intercourseSexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
outside of marriage so the de facto age of consent is the marriageable age. In Kuwait, this means that boys must be at least 17 and girls at least 15 years old. - Position of authority/trust – in some parts of the world (such as England and Wales), in cases where a person is in a position of trust over a child or young person, the age of consent is higher, in England and Wales it is 16 unless the person is a student of the older person in which case it is 18. Examples include relationships between teachers and students.
Extraterritoriality
Increasingly the age of consent laws of a state are applied not only to acts committed in the state's own territory, but also to those committed by the state's citizens or inhabitants while they are on foreign soil. An example is the United States, which has passed a Federal age of consent law banning sexual activity by US citizens with foreigners or with other US citizens who are from another one of the States, if any of the partners is under 18. This applies in cases where any of the partners travels into or out of the United States, or from one State into another one, for the purpose of a sexual encounter. The United States also applies this law in cases where the age of consent is lower than the age of both partners in both the states or countries involved, and does not allow exceptions for cases in which the partners are legally married, other regulations notwithstanding.Statutory rape
Where a jurisdiction's age of consent laws for sexual activity treat those convicted of those laws with the same severity as they do with rapeRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, the law is often referred to as statutory rape. The different titles of age of consent laws include statutory rape, rape of a child, corruption of a minor, carnal knowledge of a minor and others. However, in the vernacular
Vernacular
A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...
many of these terms are interchangeable and little differentiation is made.
Marriage
The age at which a person can be legally married can also differ from the age of consent. In jurisdictions where the marriageable age is lower than the age of consent, those laws usually override the age of consent laws in the case of a married couple where one or both partners are below the age of consent. Further still, some jurisdictions prohibit any sex outside of marriage, which can take place at any age, as in the case of YemenYemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
.
Pornography
Variations also exist in some countries between the age of consent and the age at which an individual can appear in pornographicPornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
images and films. In many jurisdictions, the minimum age for legal participation and even viewing of such productions is 18. Films and images showing individuals under the age of 18 in applicable jurisdictions can be classified as child pornography, even though the legal age of consent in those same jurisdictions is lower than 18. For example in the United States under federal law it is a crime to film minors below 18 in sexual acts, even in states where the age of sexual consent is below 18.
Prostitution
In many countries there are specific laws against child prostitution.Initiatives to change the age of consent
Age-of-consent reform refers to the efforts of some individuals or groups, for different reasons, to alter or abolish age-of-consent laws. These efforts advocate five main positions:- Introductions of close-in-age exceptions.
- A change in the way that age-of-consent laws are examined in court.
- Either increases in the ages of consent or more severe penalties or both.
- Either decreases in the ages of consent or less severe penalties or both.
- Abolition of the age-of-consent laws either permanently or as a temporary, practical expedient.
By country or region
Specific jurisdictions' laws relating to age of consent can be found, organized by region, on the following pages:- Ages of consent in AfricaAges of consent in AfricaThe ages of consent for sexual activity vary by jurisdiction across Africa. The specific activity engaged in or the gender of its participants can also be affected by the law. Below is a discussion of the various laws dealing with this subject...
- Ages of consent in AsiaAges of consent in AsiaThe ages of consent for sexual activity vary by jurisdiction across Asia. The specific activity engaged in or the gender of its participants can also be affected by the law. Below is a discussion of the various laws dealing with this subject...
- Ages of consent in Oceania
- Ages of consent in EuropeAges of consent in EuropeThe ages of consent for sexual activity vary by jurisdiction across Europe. Spain has the lowest age of consent, while Malta and Turkey are at the highest end . The laws can also stipulate the specific activities that are permitted and/or differentially specify the age at which a given sex can...
- Ages of consent in North AmericaAges of consent in North AmericaThe ages of consent in North America for sexual activity vary by jurisdiction.The age of consent in Canada is 16 and all US states set their limits between 16 and 18.The ages of consent in the countries of Central America range from 15 to 18....
- Ages of consent in South AmericaAges of consent in South AmericaAges of consent in Latin America may refer to:*Ages of consent in Mexico *Ages of consent in North America*Ages of consent in South America...
There are no specific age of consent laws in the Antarctic. In the unlikely event of an adult engaging in sexual activity with a minor, under the Antarctic Treaty, scientists and support staff stationed there may be subject to the laws of the country of which they are nationals. Other visitors to the continent may need to follow the laws of the country in which their expedition is organized, or the country from which it departs.
External links
- Legislation of Interpol member states on sexual offenses against children (Some information may be out of date)
- Links to the relevant state laws for all 50 States and Washington DC
- Avert.org list