Age of Consent

That's a valid point - and you can apply it to many situations. There isn't much separating a 16 year old and an 18 year old but the latter is deemed mature enough to vote while the former isn't. There is nothing to differentiate a 20 year old and a 21 year old but the US thinks the latter is 'adult enough' to drink alcohol responsibly while the former isn't. In this instance it's mostly historical - 21 is the historical age of majority, not for any particular reason. Even the UK had a drinking and voting age of 21 once upon a time, but like other countries Western chose to lower both to 18 (and in some cases, 16).

This is why 'age laws' can be confusing and harmful to a certain extent.. like recently I was reading about a 17 year old boy who was put on a sex offenders' register for 90 days because he had sex with a 15 year old girl. I think most people would find that ridiculous and the judge who handed the sentence even apologised because she thought the punishment was silly.

 

I think that a problem with discussions like this is that there really shouldn't be one age of consent, there should be a sliding scale approach. For adults in their mid 20s or older, I think a reasonable approach is to make the age of consent 18 (with the law providing legal exceptions when the older person reasonably believed the person to be at least 18). For those who are younger, I think that the primary criteria should be whether or not the person is within a few years difference.

In case you think that the above is too permissive, keep in mind that laws requiring consent for sex are still in place. After all, the primary goal of age-of-consent laws is to protect those who are unlikely to have the ability to consent. Even if you don't feel comfortable with the law permitting a 16 year old to have sex with a 14 year old, laws regarding consent in general should still apply on top of age restrictions. Those laws are what protect adults who are too mentally retarded or too intoxicated to have the capability to consent.

The main problem with having one age of consent is that you're saying that everyone below that age is incapable of consent, and everyone above that age is able to consent.

 

You can say the same thing about having one age of consent: Someone could be just a few months away from it.

For close-in-age exceptions, I think the best approach is to say that if the two people are within 2 years (or 1 year) of age of each other at any time during the year, they're considered to be an exception all year. That way you don't have cases in which it's legal for them to have sex from Jan 1st until the older one's birthday in June, then illegal until the younger one's birthday in September, then legal again for the remainder of the year.

The main problem with having one age of consent is that you assume that those under that are all unable to consent such that you automatically make it a crime (at least for the older person), and assume that everyone older is capable of consenting.

Another approach would be to have a tiered system, in which everyone below the lowest cutoff is assumed to be unable to consent, those over the first cutoff but below the second may conditionally and circumstantially be considered capable of consent (e.g., they're not being groomed or maliciously sought after), and those above the second cutoff are considered to be capable of consenting by default (absent intoxication or severe mental retardation).

The last approach may have a slightly lower conviction rate in court for those abusing teens, but you're much less likely to automatically consider those who are able to consent to be unable to consent and vice-versa.

 

I would say 19. My personal view is that while being semi-independent, and sometimes fully independent in thoughts and actions, 15-17 years olds aren't very mature. Not that you have to be mature to have consensual intercourse. But I feel 18 is the point where you are forced to be more mature, hence 19 would be an apt place for the age of consent in my view.

 

This makes more sense, because at school I hear people already talking about having sex with each other. I always feel awkward because I am overhearing these conversation and they are sometimes younger than me or are in my year.

 

that's always a legal trainwreck, in my country age is legally 13? or that's what the written law says but then there's the parents approval of the relationship, is complicated as heck reason why no one here knows what's the actual legal aspect, i rather not go in that Deep boiler of confusion which is why i always dated woman older than me

 

Oh lord. When I first started secondary school I heard so many people talking about having sex or doing sexual things.. these people were 11 or 12. I guarantee you nearly every single one of them is talking out of their arse. Around half of people won't have even started puberty at that point. About the closest thing anyone at that age is getting to sex is touching someone's (barely existent) boob above their shirt.

Last I checked, the average age when someone loses their virginity in the UK today is just under 16 for boys and just over 16 for girls. It was 18 in the 1970s/1980s. Teenage pregnancy rates have fallen to their lowest level on record though so I guess the teenagers who are having sex are doing so responsibly..

 

I think 16 is far too young. I'm also usually fine with the laws in Sweden, but the age is FIFTEEN. Ridiculously young. I would say 18.

On an unrelated side note, I also think a driver's license should be obtained at the minimum age of 18, not 16.

 

...Which makes most guys in the UK technically criminals since the age of consent there is 16 (unless there are some exceptions that I'm unaware of). In general, if a law makes most people criminals (or almost a majority of the people), then it should probably at least be amended.

 

I think you should do it whenever you're ready. It's a natural thing. If you were to decide to do it with someone a few years older, I should wait till you're 18 though.

 

Thank you for these!

Wow, that's fucked up. And we'd actually hold minors fully accountable for their actions in these cases?

What a repressed bunch of uptight ninnies Americans tend to be.

More reason why when travelling abroad and I'm assumed to be Canadian (which happens virtually every time I'm outside the US), I tend not to correct the mistake.

 

You're welcome!

And yes, it is fucked up. And yes, Americans tend to be uptight ninnies. What gets me about this is that it's California. I'd expect this sort of thing in some southern state.

Years back, on another forum, one poster admitted going as far as acting like he was from Canada when he went to Europe. (This during George Bush's first term, during that period when the US was so unpopular due to Iraq.)

 

The older the better

 

16 years old here in NZ but lots of activities are R18, eg prostitution, sex shows etc.

---------- Post added 23rd Feb 2016 at 11:55 AM ----------

16 years old here in NZ but lots of activities are R18, eg prostitution, sex shows etc.

---------- Post added 23rd Feb 2016 at 11:56 AM ----------

oops, submitted twice. Silly buggar

 

In my state (MD), the age is 16, and I think that's reasonable. Actually, I know quite a bit about our age of consent laws, and I think they are all completely reasonable. So I guess my opinion is whatever the state of Maryland has to say about the matter.

 

I chose 18 because I'd say it's fair enough. You're considered a legal adult at that age so it only makes sense.

 

I think it should be 18 (it's 16 in the UK) as further education is compulsory so the fact that there is a legal possibility of 16 year old parents seems a bit risky as they will stop attending to their studies and care for their child. It seems stupid that the government extended education but still keep the age of consent the same. Also, 16 year olds will think they're ready but they regularly aren't and I've heard of countless people regretful that they had sexual intercourse with someone at that age and wished they had waited. That's my opinion anyway - mind you I'm going on my knowledge which is lacking seeing as I've never been in a relationship, but you asked!

 

In Germany, the age of consent is 14, as long as here is no exploitation.

 

It's 16 in the UK and I think that's a good age to leave it. People are somewhat mature and a lot of people have already had sex by then anyway. Relationships are often on the boundary at that age, I know 15 year olds who were going out with 18 year olds etc. If we made the age of consent 18 then I don't think it'll affect people that are having sex but I do see where people are coming from to up the age to 18.