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Barely Legal: Canada Raises Age of Consent to 16
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by Jordan Yerman | May 1, 2008 at 08:21 am
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Canada's age of sexual consent will be bumped up two years to 16 beginning Thursday.
The change means adults who have sex with boys or girls aged 14 and 15 years old could face criminal charges.
Canada's age of consent has been 14 since 1892.
The legislation was brought in by the Conservative government in part to deal with older internet predators who troll the web looking for younger victims.
Canada's age of consent will now be in line with other countries, such as Britain and Australia, and most American states.
The intent of the new law is not to criminalize teenage sex, but to crackdown on adults who prey on youth, former justice minister Vic Toews said when the bill making the change was introduced.
The law includes a "close-in-age" provision of five years, which means it would be legal for a 15-year-old to have relations with a 19-year-old provided the relationship is not exploitive and the older party is not in a position of authority or trust.
The legislation does not lower the age of consent for anal sex, which is still set at 18 years.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (4)
at 10:06 on May 1st, 2008
OMG, does this also apply to marriage?
at 11:17 on May 1st, 2008
That's a good question. The marriage age varies by province, but is generally 18-19. Exceptions exist in which 16-year-olds can marry with parental consent; to my knowledge, this is not affected by the new ruling, as Canadian law considers marriage to exist outside of a sexual relationship.
at 16:11 on May 4th, 2009
I know several people who lost their virginity at 14, and I was fully aware of the consequences of sexual actions since the age of 12. For the record, I lost my virginity at the age of 18 as that was simply when I felt I was ready to do so.
I do not believe in an objective morality, or that at some age it is magically okay for someone to have sex and someone to not, when your ready is when you're ready. For some it could be 14, for others it could be 20. Children are a lot smarter than many of you give them credit for, and the average age of hormonal development in North America and western Europe is now roughly 11-13 years old due to our diets increase in nutrition, which way less than it was in the 18th and 19th century, where laws allowed old men to marry 14 year old girls. Luckily, the close-proximity in age rule or what have you does round the corners of this act to an agreeable amount.
My one question though, who is this law protecting again? I'm sure it will deter all the rapists and child molesters. Even if it gets them prosecuted, the damage is still done to the child or young teen. It's not PROTECTING anyone. What pisses me off is that they tacked this onto the same bill as their "harsher penalties for gun crimes" act which I fully support.
I think that Germany has the prime age of consent law currently (at least in theory):
In Germany, sexual intercourse is legal from the age of 14 in most cases. An exception is when the older partner is aged over 18 and is "exploiting a coercive situation" or offering compensation, in which case the younger partner must be over 16. In addition, it is illegal for someone aged over 21 to have sex with someone under 16 if they "exploit the victim's lack of capacity for sexual self-determination".
at 16:56 on May 27th, 2009
ok soo would it be ok if someone who is turning 14 in july to date someone who just turned 20 in march? with no sexual intercourse just kissing? i live in niagara falls ontario and i was just wondering if the guy could get charged or arrested for that cause he is 20?