RE: An uncomfortable ethics question.
September 21, 2010 at 12:30 am
(This post was last modified: September 21, 2010 at 12:33 am by Oldandeasilyconfused.)
Quote:Now if you were to move to the country of Senegal, where the legal age of consent is 13 and had sexual relations with a 13 year old, are you still a "child molester"?
No..
The age of consent (as we use the term) is largely a late C19th-early C20th bourgeois invention. In most cultures that age has been puberty, which is when people began to breed
.In the UK and US,the age of consent for a female was 12 until early C20th. Here,in the Northern Territory it was 14 until a few years ago due to the large indigenous population.
Quote:While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes,[1] when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent of consenting to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual activities. It should not be confused with the age of majority, age of criminal responsibility, the marriageable age, the age at which one can purchase and consume alcoholic beverages, or drive a car, or other purposes.
The age of consent varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.[1] The relevant age may also vary by the type of sexual act, the sex of the actors, or other restrictions such as abuse of a position of trust. Some jurisdictions may also make allowances for minors engaged in sexual acts with each other, rather than a single age. Charges resulting from a breach of these laws may range from a relatively low-level misdemeanor such as corruption of a minor, to statutory rape (which is considered equivalent to rape, both in severity and sentencing). Many jurisdictions regard any sexual activity by an adult involving a child as child sexual abuse.
Quote:The American colonies followed the English tradition, and the law was more of a guide. For example, Mary Hathaway (Virginia, 1689) was only nine when she was married to William Williams. Sir Edward Coke (England, 17 century) made it clear that "the marriage of girls under twelve was normal, and the age at which a girl who was a wife was eligible for a dower from her husband's estate was nine even though her husband be only four years old."[2]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_consent
