The Age of Sexual Consent by Country

The age of consent means the minimum age at which a person is able to understand and agree to have sex according to the laws of the country he/she belongs to. In many countries, it is illegal for someone, no matter how old, to have sex with an individual below the age of consent. In some cases the law may be more lenient when both partners are below the age of consent but usually in all civil societies, there is a minimum age below which sex is illegal.

Worldwide the age of sexual consent ranges from twelve to twenty years. In fact it not only varies from one country to another, but even within the same country it can change from one state to another as in the United States. This is because a number of factors like culture, law, religions are involved while setting up the age of sexual consent for a particular country. and besides state, the age of consent may vary according to gender as well as the nature of sexual relations, for instance there may be separate age of consent for heterosexual and same-sex relations in the same country.

In North America, the United States has one of the most diverse laws for age of sexual consent. Here the federal age of consent is sixteen but in states like Texas can marry as young as fourteen provided they are supported by their parents and a judge of the court of law. On the other hand in states like California and Oregon, the legal age of heterosexual as well as same-sex relations is eighteen. In Canada while there is less variation according to states and the age of consent is sixteen, unmarried partners below eighteen cannot legally consent to anal sex under national law, even though provincial law may vary.

Down south, the age of sexual consent is considerably lower. In countries like Colombia and Peru it is twelve for girls and fourteen for boys. Other countries of South America too show the same trend; for instance in Argentina it ranges from thirteen to sixteen while in Chile it is fourteen for heterosexuals and eighteen for same sex partners. In Brazil, the age of consent is fourteen and eighteen for girls and boys respectively for all kinds of sexual relations; however authorities may not choose to prosecute if the younger partner is aged fourteen to seventeen and does not lodge a complaint.

Countries of yet another Southern continent Oceania reveal the complexities of factors like culture and law which determine sexual consent in a society. A British colony in the Pacific Ocean, Pitcairn Islands could have a tradition of sex among partners aged lower than sixteen while the country governing it, Britain in this case, might uphold a higher age of consent by law. In 2004, such a case grabbed headlines when seven men from Pitcairn stood accused of sexually abusing children under British law where the age of sexual consent is sixteen. Apparently the partners that these men had sex with were below sixteen but since the land was overseas British territory, they stood accused under its law. There is little such complexity in neighboring countries like New Zealand where the age of sexual consent is sixteen. In Australia, though there is some variation with states like Tasmania and SA having seventeen as the legal age of consent while generally it is sixteen. In Queensland, the legal age of consent for anal intercourse is 18 - regardless of gender - while for vaginal intercourse it is 16.

In Africa there are considerable variations in age of sexual consent because of the primacy of community and tribal laws. In the tiny state Burkina Faso, it is thirteen while in Burundi heterosexual partners need to be eighteen to have sex. In Equator the age of consent is fixed at fourteen, in Egypt, Gabon, Kenya at eighteen and in South Africa at sixteen. The age of consent is not clear for several countries like Somali, Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic where there is a lot of unrest and the civil society is often in a state of turmoil.

In Asia too there are variations in the age of sexual consent due to the geographical extent of the continent and consequently the diversity of culture, religion and laws of the people living here. Starting from the east, the age of consent in Japan varies from thirteen to eighteen; this is because while the age of sexual consent in Japan is thirteen years of age, prefecture law usually overrides federal law, raising the age up to eighteen. In China however there is no ambiguity and the age is fixed at fourteen. In India the age of consent in eighteen except in the state of Manipur, where it is fourteen. Recently A law banning "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" was overruled in a Delhi High Court ruling, meaning that consensual homosexual activities between adults above eighteen years of age are now legal. However countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan same-sex relations are illegal but minimum age of heterosexual relations are fixed at eighteen in the former and at eighteen for boys and sixteen for girls in the latter. And yet the law rarely interferes in cases where couples are married far below the age of consent like twelve or thirteen. In the Gulf States too like Iran, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia same-sex relations are illegal as are heterosexual relationships outside the scope of marriage. In these societies the only consideration is formal marriage for legal sanction to sexual relations, no matter how young the partners are.

In Europe, there is greater uniformity in the age of sexual consent since in most of the countries like Belgium, UK, Hungary, Finland it is sixteen. However in some east European countries it may be lesser like fourteen in Bulgaria, Croatia even though a few others on the western side like Italy may also follow the rule. However some countries have further qualifications; like in Denmark, sexual intercourse is legal from the age of fifteen in most cases though an exception is when the younger partner is an adopted child, step-child, foster child or the older person is entrusted with the education or upbringing of the younger person. In this situation, the younger partner must be over eighteen. Also in Germany sexual intercourse is legal from the age of fourteen in most cases. An exception is when the older partner is aged over eighteen and is "exploiting a coercive situation", In addition, it is illegal for someone aged over twenty-one to have sex with someone under sixteen if they "exploit the victim's lack of capacity for sexual self-determination".

Thus the matter of age of sexual content is of great complexity. Partly this is because it is governed by many factors like tradition, religion and politics. But this is true also since the very markers of social and civil law are in constant flux and indeed the very definition of what constitutes sexual relations might vary from one generation to another.