

Many states consider the relative ages of the participants. Each jurisdiction takes a slightly different approach to determining age of consent, which as the actual age ranging from 10 to 18 years. If the girl was 15 years old, however, it is not.

This would mean that a 17-year-old boy engaging in sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl is a crime. Having sex with a minor between the ages of 12 and 16, who is at least four years younger, is a crime. Legal Age of ConsentĪccording to federal law, the legal age of consent is between 12 and 16 years. Rather, statutory rape would not be a criminal act at all if both individuals engaging in sexual activities were above the legal age of consent. The term statutory rape can be misleading, as it does not refer to forced acts of sex, or coercion. Every state has statutory rape laws, though the specific definitions and punishments vary greatly. Statutory rape occurs when an individual over the legal age of consent engages in sexual activities with another person who is under the legal age of consent as specified by state law. Having sexual intercourse with a person under the age of consent is a crime referred to as “ statutory rape.” This means that the mental capacity of a person may leave hi or her unable to legally consent to sexual activities, regardless of chronological age. Age of consent in the United States refers to a person’s chronological age, but in some cases, a court may consider the person’s mental age, in determining whether he or she has been taken advantage of. The actual term age of consent does not appear in the laws of most jurisdictions, though federal law sets this age at 12 to 16 years, and most states have similar ages. The age of consent is the age at which, according to law, a person may legally consent to engage in sexual activity. Enforcement of consent laws based on the participants’ actual ages were not common until the 19th century, because proof of age and date of birth were not readily available. The American colonists initially followed English tradition, which commonly recognized marriage at ages as young as 9 years, in the subject of marriage and sex. Christianity made it clear to its followers that sexual relations outside marriage was forbidden, and children were commonly held responsible, and punished, for submitting to sexual acts with an adult. The accepted age of marriage at the time was 12 years. This Westminster 1 statute made it a crime to “ravish” a maiden younger than the age of marriage, with or without her consent. The data below reflects what each jurisdiction's legislation actually means, rather than what it states on the surface.The first written age of consent law found by historians comes from England in 1275. Unrestricted: age from which one is deemed able to consent to having sex with anyone else at or above the age of consent or the marriageable age if they must be marriedĭifferent jurisdictions express these definitions differently, like Argentina, may say the age of consent is 18, but an exception is made down to 13 years of age, if the older partner is not in a position of authority over the younger one.Restricted by authority: younger partner is deemed able to consent to having sex with an older one as long as the latter is not in a position of trust or authority, or is not recognised to be abusing the inexperience of the younger one.Restricted by age difference: younger partner is deemed able to consent to having sex with an older one as long as their age difference does not exceed a specified amount.Main article: Age of consent § Defenses and exceptions
