To wonder why the age of consent is different in different countries?

[ahhhhhpushit]

What do people think about this?

I've always wondered why some countries have it so different to others - with ranges from 12 to 21 (essentially the whole of puberty).

See here:

www.avert.org/age-of-consent.htm

Some interesting ones -

Bulgaria 14
Egypt 18
Nigeria 13
Spain 13

Interesting that quite a few countries have different ages for girls and boys (with girls usually 2-3 years younger).

What factors do you think come into play? Do you think there is a right age. Have we got it wrong?

My opinion is that is should be 18. A friend from another contry made me laugh once by saying it is funny how in the UK you can be old enough to have a child with your MP but not old enough to vote for them.

Thought provoking!

well it makes sense to me. I also don't have a problem with 2 x 15 year olds having sex, if they both freely chose to do it, probably not even 14/15 but I wouldn't like the idea of say a 15 year old with a 20+ year old.

Maryz in England you can't marry without parental consent until 18, which I suppose is slightly better. In Scotland though, as mrsj said, that 'extra' two years doesn't exist.

I think the answer is pretty strongly No, ZZEN (Do Spanish teens have sex sooner?). Because they have such tight support networks & believe so much in family links & values. Latino-Catholic culture & all. 22% of Spanish teens have had sex by 16,
estimated 33 % of British teens have had sex before 16th birthday.
Typical age is still 16+ in both cultures, so much ridiculous hype on this subject.

I think we should make everything 16. Smoking, drinking, driving, voting, age of consent.

Driving? Dear God no. I think that should be upped to 19! And going in pubs to , ooh, 27.

The Vatican City 12 .

Average age of first intercourse in the Netherlands is 17, so AOC laws not very relevant there...

The Vatican citizenry consists almost entirely of two groups: clergy, most of whom work in the service of the Holy See, and a very few as officials of the state; and the Swiss Guard

Since none of them are under 12 (and most of them are supposedly forbidden from having sex by rules stronger than the law) there's not really much impetus to change the official rules, is there?

If someone said "hey chaps, I think we should have a more sensible age of consent" it would raise the question "why, who are you sleeping with?"

(as Marvin said earlier)

A really interesting and important topic to debate ahhhhhhpushit (sorry if I missed off an 'h')

I taught in a government secondary school in Botswana for 5 years in the 90's. When I discussed issues like these with the girls I taught (very bright girls I ought to add), they absolutely fell about when I said it was illegal in the UK to have intercourse with a girl under 16. The concept really did seem hilarious for several minutes.

And I stress, these were very inteligent girls.

I think 16 is about right for AOC generally. I would however support age gap laws - for instance, making it illegal for 22+ year olds to have sex with 16 and 17 year olds. It is very subjective though, and all children mature at very different rates - my DD2 is 16 very soon and definitely will not be ready to have sex as she has mental health difficulties and a learning disability. On the other hand, I know a woman married at 16 who was totally ready and has had a wonderful marriage. 16 seems the best age to me

As for voting - should be 16 IMO. No taxation without representation
And army should be 21

I think 15 or 16 is the appropriate age. Less than that and you risk exploitation of very young teens by older adults. More than that and you are criminalising so many youngsters (hence I think 15 might be better than 16). Maybe the best thing would be to 18 but with a close age exception amongst the 14/5 to 18 year olds

"And I stress, these were very inteligent girls."

Who would almost certainly have known how to spell intelligent

Does anyone think that the age of consent actually makes any difference?

Onlya i really should know this as a really good lapsed Catholic. I was under the impression the V.C included a few houses, block of flats, couple of high schools, bijou trendy shopping zone..

Reminds me of the time i asked a Priest did he have any children, i was mortified, he was lovely and quick as a flash said "No, but my Father was a Bishop".

Chipping - I don't know how much of a difference it makes to 14/15 year olds who want to have sex. Probably not a huge amount. I think education makes the biggest difference hands down. Then they have the best chance of making responsible decisions and knowing whether they feel 'ready' or not. But an AOC is essential so younger children are protected from predators.

AFAIK Dutch law states 12, but only if the boyfriend is max 3 years older or something. To do with protecting girls but not have statutory rape in the law.

After all, with teenage pregnancy happening from that age, how can you criminalise them?!

(Low % of teenage pregnancies, but it does happen).

I think 16 is fine. Having said that I wish I had waited until 18 to loose mine but hey ho.

It's a lot to do with culture and with the mores of the time / place.

In Iran it is illegal to have sex if you are not married, but you can have a temporary marriage that lasts an hour.

This country has seen huge changes in my lifetime, mainly with same sex relationships. In England it necame legal for men over 21 in 1967, but Scotland and NI didn't legalise it until the 1980s. Then it was dropped to 18 and finally to 16 in ...............er ............ I think about 2000 - not entirely sure.

It's also interesting the way there are some exceptions if two people are close in age

Actually, the age of consent for the Netherlands is 16. To quote from wikipedia (and I looked up the underlying laws):

"Netherlands: The age of consent in the Netherlands is 16, as specified by the Dutch Criminal Code, Articles 245 and 247, which read:

Art 245: "A person who, out of wedlock, with a person who has reached the age of twelve but has not reached sixteen, performs indecent acts comprising or including sexual penetration of the body is liable to a term of imprisonment of not more than eight years or a fine of the fifth category."

Art 247: "A person who, with a person whom he knows to be unconscious or physically unable to resist or to be suffering from such a degree of mental defect or mental disease that he is incapable or not sufficiently capable of exercising or expressing his will in the matter or of offering resistance, performs indecent acts, or who, with a person who has not yet reached the age of sixteen (16) years, out of wedlock, performs indecent acts, or by whom the latter is enticed into performing, or submitting to such acts, out of wedlock, with a third party, is liable to a term of imprisonment of not more than six years or a fine of the fourth category."

Consensual sexual relations between adolescents who are close in age are not punished: sexual acts between persons who have reached the age of 12 years are widely tolerated by the courts and the Dutch Public Prosecution Service if the difference in age between the two partners is not too great. The latter is determined at the discretion of the court, though usually three years is deemed acceptable.

Article 245, Article 247 (in Dutch)"

It's interesting. We moved to Canada three years ago and have pre-teens. The age of consent here is 16, but I've just seen that there are also 'close in age' rules, and I'm not very comfortable with either of them. The first is that you can have sex with a 12-13 year old if you are less than two years older (I'm OK with the age gap, just not the idea that any 12/13 year old should ever really be having sex - my ds is 12 and really very young, no way should anyone have sex with him regardless if they were only 14 themselves). The one that bothers me more though is that you can have sex with a 14-15 year old if you are 'only' five year older than them. In the UK I would be seriously thinking about calling the police if I had a 14 year old with a 19 year old boyfriend who I thought pressured him/her into sex. I think that gap is much too big.

16 with provisions not to prosecute those of similar age seems a fairly good balance to me, however some of the cases where judges have deemed it reasonable for a man not to 'realise' that the child he was having sex with was significantly under 16 have been quite shameful IMO, so I don't think the UK has got it all right.

As I recall there are plenty of US teens who are on the sex offenders register for life, solely for having sex with a girlfriend who was one year younger than them.

16 year old boy having sex with a 15 year old girl, or something. There are often prosecutions.

In the US the age of consent in a State may be different to the minimium age for marriage, as the age of consent outside marriage is often higher. It is also a federal offence to transport someone who is under age in one state across the state boundary to have sex in another where it is legal. But it is no offence to go across state boundaries to get married.

The school I was at had kids from all over the world, it was noticeable that the African and S European kids hit puberty earlier than the Asian and N European kids.