Age of Consent.

[Wraith]

I know this question has been asked before, but having read through some of the answers I'm still unsure about the answer. I'm asking this because one of my sons friends has told him that there isn't a legal age for boys. I would like to set the records straight.

 

What is the legal age that a person can start having sex?

Is it different for boys and girls?

If so, why?

[Kirsten1982]

It is 16 for everyone including boys!!

[Octavius]

Presumably you are talking about the UK?

The legal age for male/female; female/female; male/male in the United Kingdom of  England, Scotland and Wales is 16. 

In Northern Ireland it is 17.

 

Excluding countries where sex outside of marriage or between same sex couples is illegal - 16 is the international average.

[Wraith]

Sorry, I should have said I'm in England.

[Octavius]

Just in case....

Argentina - 15
Bahamas - 16
Canada - 14
Colombia - male 14, female 12
India - 18
Indonesia - male 19, female 16
Hungary - 14
Peru - male 14, female 12
Tunisia - 20
UK - 16
US - federal age 16

 

Perhaps the misinformed friend is referring to the old law regarding homosexual age of consent. Until now, the age of consent for homosexual men was 18 and there was no statutory age of consent for lesbian sex.

[ursula62]

I believe the reason there was no statutory age for lesbian sex is because at the time the ministers were too embarrassed to explain the subject to Queen Victoria. They had had a hard time getting her to understand the concept of homosexuality between men.

[Heath]

Hmm, well I heard there wasn't a legal age for boys but for girls it was 16. Apparently if a 15 year old girl has sex with a man of 20 the man good be sent to prison for life, depending what it was exactly he did. If a girl of 20 has sex with a 15 year old boy well she has about 5-15 years or something along those lines. I could be talking ******** but that's what was said to me... :-/

[Ammy]

The way I understood it there wasn't and still isnt an actual age of consent for heterosexual males in the UK. Although it is generally taken to be 16 for both males and females. I remember finding out at school that the law was technically just for girls, but of course you could still be prosecuted for having sex with an male under 16.

The law is as follows:-

The legal age for [vaginal] sexual intercourse between a
man and a woman was raised from 13 to 16 by the 1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act, and has
since remained unchanged. This created an age below which intercourse with a female was
criminalised for all men above the U.K.'s age of criminal responsibility (10), though the female was
considered a victim, not herself criminal. This legislation did not apply to oral or anal sex, on which
is regulated elsewhere. Historically there has been no clearly defined age of consent for the male
having sex with a female.

 

If this law has now changed apologises, but I believe that is the way the law still stands.

[El D]

A minor under 16 is incapable of giving consent - it just so happens that the normal case is an older male with a younger female. An older woman sleeping with a young boy is guilty of stat rape, however as mentioned the penalties tend to be less which personally I find hypocritical. For 2 minors under 16 technically they are both guilty tho then onus is more often placed on the boy and little done about it.

[Hgrove]

I was interested to read ursula62's explanation as I knew a slightly different version of the same; mine was that QV simply "refused to believe" that women could do "certain things together" and refused to sign the law!

[Wraith]

I've just found this:-

 

The law as it stands

The age of consent in the UK is currently 16. So, 17-year-old Ben would be breaking the law if he had sex with 15-year-old Siobhan, even with her consent. Similarly, gay couple Jay, 16, and Mark, 14, are breaking the law as Mark is under age. However, if Ben and Siobhan�s ages were reversed, their relationship would no longer be illegal as there is currently no age of consent for boys having heterosexual sex.

 

Source; http://tinyurl.com/6fwub

[El D]

did you not read the rest? the SOA 2003 is in force. A MALE MAY NOT GIVE CONSENT BELOW THE AGE OF 16.

[bernardo]

If a teenage boy has sex with a teenage girl, it is legal if the girl is over 16 (even if the boy is under 16).  It is illegal if the girl is under 16 (even if the boy is under 16).

[El D]

i give up . . . why ask a question then ignore the right answers? nevermind, you lot carry on.

[bernardo]

"i give up . . . why ask a question then ignore the right answers? nevermind, you lot carry on."

 

Whom were you asking?  Presumably Wraith was asking the question because of a desire to know the answer.  Who is supposedly "ignoring" the right answers?

[Octavius]

The law says that to be able to have sex, both partners must be over the age of consent.  Simple.

[Wraith]

El D why ask a question then ignore the right answers?

 

I haven't ignored the answers, just trying to work out which ones were correct. Thank you for pointing out the bit I'd missed.