Age of consent
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 Ireland) for both males and females, and for both heterosexual and homosexual acts.
The Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey have their own legal systems, and changes in the age of consent happened at different dates as shown in the table below.
Timeline of age of consent legislation
| Timeline for Age of Consent Legislation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date/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) | 21 | 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 (Sexual Offences (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1983) | 21 | 21 | 18 | Illegal | Illegal | 21 |
| 1990 (Sexual Offences (Jersey) law 1990) | 21 | 21 | 18 | Illegal | 21 | 21 |
| 1992 (Sexual Offences Act 1992 – Isle of Man) | 21 | 21 | 18 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| 1994 (Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994) | 18 | 18 | 18 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
| 1995 (Sexual Offences (Jersey) Law 1995) | 18 | 18 | 18 | 21 | 18 | 21 |
| 2000 (Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000) | 16 | 16 | 17 | 21 | 18 | 21 |
| 2000 (Sexual Offences (Amendment) (Guernsey) Law, 2000) | 16 | 16 | 17 | 21 | 18 | 18 |
| 2001 (Criminal Justice Act 2001 – Isle of Man) | 16 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| 2006 (Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2006 – Isle of Man) | 16 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 18 |
| 2007 (Sexual Offences (Jersey) Law 2007) | 16 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 18 |
| 2008 (Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008) | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 18 |
| 2011 (Sexual Offences (Bailiwick of Guernsey) (Amendment) Law 2011) | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
Notes
The ages for Jersey relate to only to sodomy (referred to as "sodomie" and meaning anal intercourse). For all other homosexual acts the age of consent was the same as for heterosexual acts.
Dates are the dates referenced in the official names of the Laws or Acts: in some cases this may be later than the date when the law was agreed by the legislature in question; in other cases there may have been a further delay before the law, or part of it, came into force.
"Guernsey" relates to the Bailiwick of Guernsey; Alderney and Sark (included within the Bailiwick) were covered by the 1983 and 2011 Laws, but not by the 2000 Law.
The age of consent in the Irish Republic is still 17 for both heterosexual and homosexual acts.
External links
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/equality/protectedcharacteristics/sexualorientation/information/lgbtrights#age Imperial College "A History of LGBT Rights in the UK"
