Consensual ages why

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Open search bar Open navigation Submit search. In Jordan, year-olds can consent to sex, while in Iraq they must be By contrast, Bahrain has the highest age of consent in the world, at South America: In Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador, the age of consent is 14, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. Paraguay, meanwhile, has the age set at 14 for heterosexual relations, but at 16 for homosexual sexual activity, and does not have a close-in-age exemption.

In Chile, where the age of consent is 18, it is possible for two individuals both aged 17 or under who willingly engage in intercourse to be prosecuted for statutory rape, although this is rare. Skip to header Skip to main content Skip to footer.

Home News World News. In Depth. France to set age of consent at 15 following rape outcry Kentucky child marriage ban stalled by conservatives. Behind the scenes. It is against the law for anyone to expose their genital organs for a sexual purpose to a person under the age of 16 years. The maximum penalty for this offence is 2 years. It is against the law for a Canadian or permanent resident to travel outside of Canada and engage in any sexual activity with a young person that is against the law in Canada.

If the person is not prosecuted in the country where the offence is alleged to have occurred, the person could be prosecuted in Canada. If convicted, the person would face the same penalty as if that offence had occurred in Canada.

In addition to these criminal laws against child sexual abuse and exploitation, each province and territory has its own child welfare laws to protect children against abuse, exploitation and neglect. Age of Consent to Sexual Activity Consent to sexual activity The age of consent is the age at which a young person can legally agree to sexual activity. All sexual activity without consent is a criminal offence, regardless of age. It also answers common questions from professionals in the child, family and community welfare sector on related issues, including reporting, responding to disclosures, laws for those in supervisory roles, developmentally appropriate sexual behaviours, and digital technology.

Age of consent laws cannot be considered in isolation from other laws concerning issues such as sexual assault and child sexual abuse. Legal definitions of consent vary between Australian state and territory jurisdictions see Table 1 for links to the legislation.

Consent is an individual's free agreement to participate in an activity. Consent can only be given if it is free and voluntary, without fear, coercion, intimidation or anything else that inhibits free agreement Australian Law Reform Commission, ; Powell, Consent also needs to be actively communicated in order to establish a free agreement Fileborn, ; Powell, ; this is known as 'positive consent' Fileborn, It is not enough to say that an individual consented just because they did not refuse or resist.

Age of consent laws are designed to protect children and young people from sexual exploitation and abuse from adults and older young people. Such laws determine that children and young people below the age of consent are yet to reach a level of general maturity enabling their safe participation in sexual activities.

In relation to sexual abuse laws in each state and territory, the key difference between child sexual assault and adult sexual assault is that adult sexual assault is based on the absence of sexual consent, whereas in child sexual assault, a child does not have the decision-making capacity to give consent according to law. The legal age for consensual sex varies between 16 and 17 years across Australian state and territory jurisdictions see Table 2.

For other sexual activities, the criminal legislation relating to different types of sexual behaviours and interactions varies across Australian jurisdictions. In Australia, state and territory governments are responsible for receiving reports of suspected child abuse and neglect from members of the public. Reporting child abuse and neglect is a community-wide responsibility. Certain groups of people are required by law to report any suspicion of abuse or neglect of a child or young person to government authorities.

If a child or young person has disclosed abuse or neglect to you, it is important to stay calm and reassure them that you will help them to be safe. For information, counselling support and service referral, contact details and links to helplines and telephone counselling services can be found in the CFCA Resource sheet: Helplines, Telephone and Online Counselling Services for Children, Young People and Adults.

Although the legal age of consent throughout Australia is either 16 or 17 years of age, legislation in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia makes it an offence for a person in a supervisory role to have sexual interactions with a person under their special care who is aged 16 or 17 years.

A person in a supervisory role providing special care may include: a teacher, foster parent, religious official or spiritual leader, a medical practitioner, an employer of the child or a custodial official.

Table 3 provides links to the relevant state or territory legislation regarding sexual interactions with 16 and 17 year olds under special care.

Note: a No specific mention of 'special care' is made in the legislation for these states. Instead, links have been provided to relevant state legislation regarding sexual interactions with 16 and 17 year olds. A number of jurisdictions provide a legal defence when a mutually consensual sexual interaction is between two young people close in age the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.

These jurisdictions are attempting to find a balance between protecting children and young people from adult sexual exploitation while not criminalising them for having sexual relationships with their peers. The Youth Law Australia website contains more information about how age of consent laws apply to young people engaging in sexual activities with their peers for each state and territory. These laws apply to children and young people sending each other nudes sexting. Children and young people may be at risk of criminal charges if they break these laws.

There are some differences between Commonwealth laws and state and territory laws. In some jurisdictions, 'these laws only apply to images of children and young people under 16 or 17' years, whereas Commonwealth laws apply to young people up to 18 years eSafety Commissioner, Some jurisdictions have introduced defences or exceptions to these laws to allow for consensual sexting between young people of similar ages eSafety Commissioner, For more information about young people and sexting , see the eSafety Commissioner website.

Age of consent laws exist not only to protect children and young people from sexual exploitation and abuse from adults and older young people; but also to give them time to be developmentally mature enough to make healthy, safe decisions about sexual interactions and relationships between children and young people.