Age of consent: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:03, 10 June 2012

The age of consent is the age at which a person can legally have sexual intercourse.

Historically in England and Wales the age of consent for heterosexual intercourse for girls was 12, there was no lower age limit for heterosexual intercourse for boys, buggery (but not other forms of gay sex) was illegal between men and boys at any age, and there were no explicit laws about lesbian sex.

The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 raised the age of consent for girls to 16,and also introduced the offence of gross indecency between males, effectively making all kinds of gay male sex illegal, irrespective of age.

The Sexual Offences Act 1967 legalised sex between men in private, with an age of consent of 21. It did not apply to Scotland or Northern Ireland, where gay sex was still illegal.

Equivalent legalisation happened in Scotland with the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, and in Northern Ireland two years later through the Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1982.

The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 reduced the age of consent for sex between men to 18, and legalised anal sex between men and women, also with an age of consent of 18.

The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 introduced a common age of consent of 16 (17 in Northern Irleand) for both males and females, and for both heterosexual and homosexual acts.

Timeline for Age of Consent Legislation
	England and Wales	Scotland	Northern Ireland	Isle of Man	Jersey	Guernsey
Before 1967	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal
1967 (Sexual Offences Act 1967)	16	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal
1980 (Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980)	21	21	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal
1982 (Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1982)	21	21	18	Illegal	Illegal	Illegal
1983	21	21	18	Illegal	Illegal	21
1990	21	21	18	Illegal	21	21
1992	21	21	18	21	21	21
1994 (Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994)	18	18	18	21	21	21
1995	18	18	18	21	18	21
1999	18	18	18	21	18	18
2000 (Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000)	16	16	17	21	18	18
2001	16	16	17	18	18	18
2006	16	16	17	16	18	18
2007	16	16	17	16	16	18
2010	16	16	17	16	16	16

@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 <tr><td>2000 ([[Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000]])</td><td>16</td><td>16</td><td>17</td><td>21</td><td>18</td><td>18</td></tr>
 <tr><td>2001</td><td>16</td><td>16</td><td>17</td><td>18</td><td>18</td><td>18</td></tr>
-<tr><td>2007</td><td>16</td><td>16</td><td>17</td><td>Illegal</td><td>16</td><td>18</td></tr>
+<tr><td>2006</td><td>16</td><td>16</td><td>17</td><td>16</td><td>18</td><td>18</td></tr>
-<tr><td>2010</td><td>16</td><td>16</td><td>17</td><td>Illegal</td><td>16</td><td>16</td></tr>
+<tr><td>2007</td><td>16</td><td>16</td><td>17</td><td>16</td><td>16</td><td>18</td></tr>
+<tr><td>2010</td><td>16</td><td>16</td><td>17</td><td>16</td><td>16</td><td>16</td></tr>
 </table>