Age of Consent Throughout the World

[The Giant Noodle]

Because the map is to large you have to visit the site:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Age_of_Consent.png

The middle East is SICK BTW!!!!!!!!!

 

[Demon of Light]

Honestly, we shouldn't even have age of consent laws. Rape is rape and consent is consent. There is no magic number for when a person can consent. It seems much of the world is more reasonable than the U.S., though.

 

[SgtRock]

Because the map is to large you have to visit the site:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Age_of_Consent.png

The middle East is SICK BTW!!!!!!!!!

I agree, the ME is a sick. Any societys that allow middle aged men to marry and have sex with little girls is a sick society.

 

[Simon W. Moon]

Because the map is to large you have to visit the site:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Age_of_Consent.png

The middle East is SICK BTW!!!!!!!!!

The ME doesn't look any worse than South America, or Mexico

 

[Vader]

I agree, the ME is a sick. Any societys that allow middle aged men to marry and have sex with little girls is a sick society.

This is the product of ignorance and religious interference in government.

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

The ME doesn't look any worse than South America, or Mexico

The places with "no age of consent" plus "must be married" strike me as being somewhat worse.

 

[Kali]

Honestly, we shouldn't even have age of consent laws. Rape is rape and consent is consent. There is no magic number for when a person can consent. It seems much of the world is more reasonable than the U.S., though.

We have consent laws to protect kids that are not mature enough to really consent. They may want to consent but that leaves them open (no pun intended) to be taking advantage of.

I do think the consent laws need to me lower though.

 

[Johnny]

The age of consent laws are a good thing that sometimes go bad. When some 40 year old pervert tries to pick up a 13 year old that's BAD. The law is right in going after that creep.

However when we put an 18 year old high school student in prison for having sex with his 15/16 year old girlfriend that's wrong. Yes he turned 18 but there close in age.

Or you're in a bar or club. Meet a chick. She got in with a fake ID. You had no idea. You take her home. Now you can be thrown in jail and labeled a sex offender. That's not right.

 

[Simon W. Moon]

The places with "no age of consent" plus "must be married" strike me as being somewhat worse.

What is the legal age of marriage in these places? I didn't take these to mean that you could marry toddlers. I took it to mean that they didn't have a specific law pertaining to the issue cause that's all the info I had available to me.

edit

Which to me is not necessarily as bad as the places in Mexico where there's a specific law explicitly saying its okay to have sex with a 9 yr old.

 

[mike2810]

IMO there is no correct answer. I agree that a 40 year old going after a 13 year old is wrong. I dated a women who was 9 years younger than me (I was 39 she was 30). My brother has been married to a women who is 11 years younger than him (40 and 51). I feel as you get older the age difference is less important. The key is both should be adults. Not a child and an adult.

 

[Hoplite]

The age of consent laws are a good thing that sometimes go bad. When some 40 year old pervert tries to pick up a 13 year old that's BAD. The law is right in going after that creep.

I cant resist playing devil's advocate here.

Why is that bad?

 

[Demon of Light]

We have consent laws to protect kids that are not mature enough to really consent.

What does that even mean? If you ask me there are plenty of adults who are not "mature enough" to really consent.

The age of consent laws are a good thing that sometimes go bad. When some 40 year old pervert tries to pick up a 13 year old that's BAD. The law is right in going after that creep.

You're assuming that we are talking about some sexually-ignorant, flat-chested, soft-minded girl that is easily manipulated and some ugly, decrepit, fat slob no woman would want in her pants.

 

[CriticalThought]

I'm more concerned about the countries that have age of consent laws set at 9. If there is no law, then that might just be because they don't need one because the society manages to police itself. But actually creating a law saying that 9 year olds can consent? That is troubling.

 

[1069]

I think the age of consent should be puberty.
Since a chronological age is needed, I'd say 13, since >90% of people are pubertal by then.
Maybe even 14, if that'll make everyone feel better. Everyone who doesn't have a medical problem has at least started puberty, by that age.

Then- and this is important- I think that it should be a crime for anyone to have sex with anyone under the age of 21, if there's more than a five-year difference in their ages.

Please note that I am not saying, "I think we should declare open season for predators as soon as a child reaches puberty".
What I'm saying is, I think that it should no longer be a crime for a young person to have consensual sex with a partner near their own age, after they've reached puberty.
Now, it may be that parents don't want them to do that. Parents may threaten, punish, whatever. It is up to them to instill morals and enforce rules upon their own children.
But after the age of 13 or 14, I no longer think it should be the state or the government's business to become involved. Some parents just don't care if their sixteen-year-old is having sex, as long as he/she is using protection. Some parents respect their teenagers' rights to form intimate relationships with peers, and to make their own decisions when it comes to sexual matters.
The state has no right to intervene and usurp the authority of these parents.

 

[The Giant Noodle]

No one should have sex till they are 25. Except for me.

 

[PeteEU]

Because the map is to large you have to visit the site:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Age_of_Consent.png

The middle East is SICK BTW!!!!!!!!!

No they are no different than we were not long ago, and in some places still are. In a male dominated society like there's where women are seen as property to be protected, this lack of age of consent stems from tradition and not religion. During the nomadic times, a woman was expected to pump out warriors (male) from the instant she was biologically able too. Hence women were married off very young to solidify political arrangements and so on. That is no different than what happened in Europe during the dark ages and even before.

And the map is some what wrong. India has an age of consent of 16, but babies are married to each other there and I believe sex between a husband and wife is not rape there regardless of age. The US has different ages of consent, and yet the US allows closed cults who are known to abuse children to exist.

Age of consent laws span from idiotic to stupid depending on the nation and is more than often based on religious and traditionalist dogma than actual fact. In Denmark the age of consent is 15, however we would never prosecute a 14 year old and a 16 year old having consensual sex. In other nations there would be a mandatory prosecution.

 

[molten_dragon]

I think the age of consent should be puberty.
Since a chronological age is needed, I'd say 13, since >90% of people are pubertal by then.
Maybe even 14, if that'll make everyone feel better. Everyone who doesn't have a medical problem has at least started puberty, by that age.

Then- and this is important- I think that it should be a crime for anyone to have sex with anyone under the age of 21, if there's more than a five-year difference in their ages.

Please note that I am not saying, "I think we should declare open season for predators as soon as a child reaches puberty".
What I'm saying is, I think that it should no longer be a crime for a young person to have consensual sex with a partner near their own age, after they've reached puberty.
Now, it may be that parents don't want them to do that. Parents may threaten, punish, whatever. It is up to them to instill morals and enforce rules upon their own children.
But after the age of 13 or 14, I no longer think it should be the state or the government's business to become involved. Some parents just don't care if their sixteen-year-old is having sex, as long as he/she is using protection. Some parents respect their teenagers' rights to form intimate relationships with peers, and to make their own decisions when it comes to sexual matters.
The state has no right to intervene and usurp the authority of these parents.

We should just turn the informal 'half your age +7' rule into a law. It's what all normal people use anyway. :mrgreen:

In all seriousness though, your suggestion is pretty good. I'm not sure I'd go a 5-year difference, but I think you've got the gist of it.

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

What is the legal age of marriage in these places? I didn't take these to mean that you could marry toddlers. I took it to mean that they didn't have a specific law pertaining to the issue cause that's all the info I had available to me.

Marriageable age - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Varies from country to country, obviously. Most of the countries in question are comparable to the West, but there are a few uglies:

Ethiopia: 18. In practice, however, children in rural areas are married young. .[citation needed] It is not uncommon to see girls as young as 6 years of age being married.[citation needed] It is also unusual for a girl to be 16 and yet unmarried.

Brunei: No minimum marriage age specified.

The age of consent in Brunei is 16.
Article 2 of this Act determines the offence as follows: Any person who has or attempts to have carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of sixteen (16) years except by way of marriage, shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 2 years and not more than 7 years and to whipping not exceeding 24 strokes of the rattan in the case of an adult or 12 strokes of the rattan in the case of a youthful offender.

So... yeah. Age of consent is sixteen unless you're married. On the other hand, there's no minimum age for marriage.

Saudi Arabia: None currently, legislation for age 18 is being considered.

Any kind of sexual activity outside marriage is illegal in Saudi Arabia, but there is no restriction on the age of marriage.[36] For instance, in 2008 a Saudi court refused to annul a marriage between an 8 year old girl and a 58 year old man.[37] A prohibition on marriage under the age of 14 was being considered by the Ministry of Justice in late 2008. According to cleric Ahmad Al-Mu’bi, the appropriate minimum age for sex "varies according to environment and traditions."

Sri Lanka: 18. However, Muslims can be excluded from this regulation because the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act of 1951 states that a girl must be 12 years of age or have a Quazi's permission to marry before contracting into marriage. This is applicable only for Muslims in Sri Lanka.

Twelve, or with the permission of an Islamic judge.

Yemen: In practice, "Yemeni law allows girls of any age to wed, but it forbids sex with them until the indefinite time they’re 'suitable for sexual intercourse'."[40] Following the widely publicised divorce of a 10 year-old girl in 2008, there have been public and parliamentary efforts to raise the age to 17 or 18.

Which to me is not necessarily as bad as the places in Mexico where there's a specific law explicitly saying its okay to have sex with a 9 yr old.

Guess that all depends on how you look at it.

 

[Gardener]

Guess that all depends on how you look at it.

or how much of it you are willing to look at.

When marriage involves one grown man deciding his preteen will marry his brother or cousin as it so often does, the marriage, itself, lacks true consent from the perspective of the girl in question. If we are to talk about age of CONSENT, lets make sure we are dealing in actual consent first, and then we can talk about the appropriate age for such.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Because the map is to large you have to visit the site:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Age_of_Consent.png

The middle East is SICK BTW!!!!!!!!!

I'm more concerned about how our country can have such strong opinions on this issue - but not have an agreed on nation-wide age of consent.

It really does make a difference . . 16, 17, 18, 19 - it's not all the same thing.

BTW - see the dot? The dot means they *must* be married - they don't condone sex outside/before marriage. . .so age of consent isn't even a necessity, really. Unfortunately what makes this part so ironic is that if any type of non-marriage relationship occurs they often lay blame on the woman . . . the whole Sharia law thing really alters it.

If this map also combined teen-pregnancy rates, STD spread and so forth it would tell more about what's a good idea and what's not.

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

or how much of it you are willing to look at.

I've developed something of a tolerance to depravity over the years.

When marriage involves one grown man deciding his preteen will marry his brother or cousin as it so often does, the marriage, itself, lacks true consent from the perspective of the girl in question. If we are to talk about age of CONSENT, lets make sure we are dealing in actual consent first, and then we can talk about the appropriate age for such.

I merely got caught up in arguing that countries that allow young children to marry are relatively worse than countries with ridiculously low ages of consent. Your argument only reinforces that position, really.

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

I'm more concerned about how our country can have such strong opinions on this issue - but not have an agreed on nation-wide age of consent.

We couldn't agree on a drinking age, either, until the Federal government blackmailed the States by threatening to withhold their own money from them. And there's really no significant political lobby with any interest in changing the age of consent-- whether to raise it or lower it. Most people aren't even aware that some States have different ages of consent for heterosexual and homosexual contact.

It really does make a difference . . 16, 17, 18, 19 - it's not all the same thing.

Think there's really that much difference in the three years between sixteen and nineteen? Most nineteen year olds still live at home.

These ages are all too high. These are adults we're talking about, here. The law should treat them as such.

 

[Gray_Fox_86]

I am here in Europe where in Slovakia several 16 and 15 yr old girls hit on me. I looked at the map and it is legal there. I could have had sex with a hot 16 yr old and i did not. Who do I blame? The US and its backwardness on sex. The age of consent should be lower in all states with perhaps 15 being the lowest possible. My brother said it best "you should have had sex with her a 16 yr old is not always going to look at you and think sex". So now I hit myself in my head for not doing it. But I am 24 and look a lot younger like 18 i have been told. So I mean it is obviously in the girls power to whom she will have sex with, always has been.

 

[MaggieD]

I am here in Europe where in Slovakia several 16 and 15 yr old girls hit on me. I looked at the map and it is legal there. I could have had sex with a hot 16 yr old and i did not. Who do I blame? The US and its backwardness on sex. The age of consent should be lower in all states with perhaps 15 being the lowest possible. My brother said it best "you should have had sex with her a 16 yr old is not always going to look at you and think sex". So now I hit myself in my head for not doing it. But I am 24 and look a lot younger like 18 i have been told. So I mean it is obviously in the girls power to whom she will have sex with, always has been.

Give men a bit more credit than that. I have to wonder: who do you blame? about what?

 

[Gray_Fox_86]

Give men a bit more credit than that. I have to wonder: who do you blame? about what?

I just blame American society about being conservative when it comes to sex. They treat adults like children and that is not right. 16 yr olds need to be given more responsibly so that they mature faster and not act like kids when they are in late teens and early 20s. I have met many people who were 16 and 17 that were more mature then people here in their 20s and that is sad.