Age of consent: Difference between revisions
1980 & 1982 decriminalisation of sex between men in Scotland and NI added; small tidy of language re 1967 Act |
1994 act went beyond gay men, also affected bi and straight people, |
||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
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. | 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 | 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 [[The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000]] introduced a common age of consent of 16 for both males and females, and for both heterosexual and homosexual acts. | The [[The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000]] introduced a common age of consent of 16 for both males and females, and for both heterosexual and homosexual acts. | ||
Revision as of 08:29, 22 July 2011
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 The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 introduced a common age of consent of 16 for both males and females, and for both heterosexual and homosexual acts.