Age of consent reform

Age of consent reform refers to efforts to change age of consent laws, whether to raise or lower or abolish the age of consent, or to change the ways in which the laws are applied. These efforts vary greatly in intensity and popularity, and have manifested in a variety of forms, such as legislation for close-in-age exemptions to age of consent laws, advocacy to change the way age of consent laws are examined in court, to lower or increase the age limits, and increase or reduce related penalties. Some organized efforts have occurred ranging from academic discussions to political petitions and pedophile advocacy groups.

A number of jurisdictions have adopted close-in-age exemptions in recent decades.These are frequently called Romeo and Juliet exemptions. These exemptions to age of consent laws take account of varying circumstances such as sex between a minor under the age of consent and a much older adult, a minor under the age of consent and a person of the same age or older by only a small amount, whether or not under the age of consent, or a minor under the age of consent and another minor under the age of consent.

In a typical jurisdiction with close-in-age exemptions, sexual intercourse between (for example) a 14-year-old and a 21-year-old might be a criminal offense on the latter's part, while sexual intercourse between (for example) two 14-year-olds would not constitute a criminal offense by either party. Other jurisdictions have laws that allow a minor under 17 and a adult over 18 to consent to sexual intercourse based on age difference, or (for example) to allow a 3 to 5 years age difference (16-year-old and a 19-year-old or a 15-year-old and a 20-year-old). Some see this as a means to allow young people to have a normal sexual development while protecting them from dangerous and violent sexual predators.

In Canada, the age of consent was raised from 14 to 16 on 1 May 2008 (in 1890 it was raised from 12 to 14).

In June 2006, the Canadian government proposed a bill to raise the age of consent from 14 to 16, while creating a near-age exemption for sex between 14-15 year olds and partners up to 5 years older, and keeping an existing near-age clause for sex between 12-13 year olds and partners up to 2 years older. The initiative also maintains a temporary exception for already existing marriages of 14 and 15 year olds, but forbids new marriages like these in the future.

Former Toronto police officer Paul Gillespie said the bill would give police "more tools" in the battle against Internet predators. The alleged intention of the bill is to target "sexual predators" and pimps, although no legal distinction is made to differentiate them from older partners engaged or interested in non-exploitative relationships, or to distinguish between sexual harassment (mainly through the Internet) and normal approaches (generally in the physical world). Other groups that supported the increase in the age of consent were the National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC), the Canada Family Action Coalition (CFAC), Canadian Crime Victim Foundation (CCVF), Beyond Borders Inc. and Canadians Addressing Sexual Exploitation (CASE).

Criticism

This proposal has received criticism from different organizations and individuals. Andrea Cohen of the pro-choice Canadian Federation of Sexual Health (formerly Planned Parenthood) said the organization believes the legislation does nothing to keep youth from harm. "What it will do is infringe upon the rights of youth in terms of their ability to make decisions on their own sexuality", affirmed Cohen on TV.

The Canadian AIDS Society has stated that "increasing the age of consent could result in young people being more secretive about their sexual practices and not seeking out the information they need. This will place youth at an increased risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections."

Critics of the ‘near-age exemption' policy as used in Canada argue that sex has the same risks (pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease) regardless of the ages of those involved. As such it offers no extra protection to permit sexual relationships between those within a certain age bracket but prohibit them from having sex with those outside this group.

Peter Dudding, Executive Director of the Child Welfare League of Canada, criticized the bill's effect of removing judicial discretion in cases involving 14 and 15 year-olds: "When we deal with arbitrary cut-offs, we lose the flexibility to apply the law in a much more specific and individualized kind of way."

Sue Barnes, a former lawyer and currently a Canadian MP, who is the Official Opposition critic of the Liberal Party of Canada for the Minister of Justice, said that age of consent is not an issue that particularly irritates her voters. Gay rights activists also criticized the bill, because it does not address the issue of equality, maintaining the present Canadian age of consent for anal sex at 18. Hilary Cook, spokeswoman for gay rights group Egale believes the bill is "an attempt to score partisan points"

Amendment

Canada's age of consent was raised to 16 in the spring of 2008. The Bill came into effect on 1 May 2008, after it was passed by both houses in March 2008.

Case of Dale Eric Beckham

One of the motivators for the reform of these laws in Canada was the case of Dale Eric Beckham. In March 2005, Beckham, then 31 years old, travelled from his home in Woodlands, Texas to Ottawa, Canada to meet with a 14-year-old boy he had met over the internet. The boy's parents, after observing him sneaking out in the middle of the night into a taxi, alerted the police who tracked the cab to a hotel. Police found Beckham and the boy in a hotel room where the two had already engaged in sexual intercourse. Police also discovered pornographic images of children on a laptop computer that Beckham had brought with him from Texas. Beckham was arrested and held without bail. In Beckham's home state of Texas, the age of consent is 17 and violators can face prison terms of up to 20 years. In Canada, sex with children as young as 14 (until May 2008) was legal as long as it was consensual and the adult is not in a position of authority or dependency. The boy suffered from psychological problems, including social anxiety disorder and thoughts of suicide and was under the care of doctors. However, because the boy insisted that the sex with Beckham was consensual, the only crime Beckham could be prosecuted for in Canada was a relatively minor offense of possession of child pornography. In November 2005, Beckham pleaded guilty and was sentenced to the time already served. He was then ordered deported back to the United States.

Following his arrest in Canada, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents searched Beckham's home in Woodlands, Texas where they discovered a massive quantity of child pornography on his computer, with some depicting children less that 12 years old engaged in sexual acts with adults. After returning to the United States, Beckham was immediately arrested and held without bond. In July 2007, Beckham pleaded guilty to a federal charge of transporting child pornography to Canada, although he unsuccessfully claimed his behaviour was the result of diminished capacity. In November 2007, he was sentenced to 17 years in prison, to be followed by lifetime supervision.

This case raised concerns that pedophiles, not just in Canada but also from abroad, were taking advantage of Canada's low age of consent to sexually exploit vulnerable children while escaping criminal prosecution. Activists also argued that it was an embarrassment that Canada had been forced to rely on the United States to punish indecent acts against a Canadian child that had occurred on Canadian soil.

Lowering age of consent

Both adults and minors are actively involved in discussing and promoting their viewpoints regarding lowering the age of consent.

Pedophile advocacy groups

During the late 1950s to early 1990s, several pedophile membership organizations advocated lowering or abolishing age of consent laws to legalize sexual activities involving an adult and a child (defined as child sexual abuse by all modern cultures, socially, medically, and legally), and for the legalization of child pornography. As one of their arguments to lower or abolish the age of consent, members of pedophile advocacy groups have promoted their belief that children are psychologically capable of consenting to sexual interactions with adults (although this opinion is contrary to legal and scientific consensus) and they often portray themselves as fighting for what they describe as the rights of children to engage in consensual sex with adults. Some pedophiles tried to link their goals with those of the early LGBT social movements, but in the course of time those movements universally rejected that linkage.

The age of consent reform efforts of pedophile advocacy groups such as the Danish Pedophile Association and the North American Man/Boy Love Association did not gain any public support and today those groups that have not dissolved have only minimal membership and have ceased their activities other than through a few websites. Beginning in the 1990s, public focus on and disapproval of pedophilia resulted in more stringent legislation and stronger criminal penalties regarding child pornography, child sexual abuse, and use of the internet to facilitate these offenses.

Initiatives to lower or abolish ages of consent

The Netherlands Party for Neighbourly Love, Freedom, and Diversity

Partij voor Naastenliefde, Vrijheid en Diversiteit (Party for Neighbourly Love, Freedom, and Diversity) is a Dutch political party founded in 2006. The party currently has no parliamentary representation and did not receive enough signatures to partake in the 2006 elections.

The PNVD seeks to have the legal age-of-consent lowered to 12, and, in the long run, completely eliminated, except in dependent or intrafamilial relationships. They also aim to equalize the legal age where one can perform in pornography with the legal age-of-consent.

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