Gov’t. Introduces Bill To Raise Age Of Consent

Currently, teens can legally consent to sex when they’re 14 years of age. But under the proposed law introduced by Justice Minister Vic Toews, that benchmark would rise by two years to 16.

The idea isn’t to keep kids from becoming sexually active at too young an age – a  task that’s almost impossible to legislate – but to protect youngsters from adults who might try to take advantage of their innocence.

 

Toews says the change has become necessary because of a change in society – the coming of the Internet has created a virtual Wild West for pedophiles and the laws need to be strengthened to close any loopholes.

 

 “In my experience, people are often surprised to learn just how low the age of consent actually is in this country, and they find it disturbing that adults who would take advantage of 14 and 15-year-olds should be allowed to do so under the law,” he explains.

 

 “In fact police have pointed out that the current regime means sexual predators often look to Canada for younger victims who would be unable to legally consent in other jurisdictions.”

 

But what about young adults having relationships – and relations – with other kids?

 

The bill prevents the criminalization of teen sex by adding in a ‘near-exemption’ of five years. That means a 14-year-old could still partner with a 19-year-old, while a 15-year-old could be with someone who’s 20 and wouldn’t be breaking the law.

 

Child advocates applaud the bill and hope the minority Tories can ram it through.

 

“Bottom line is it’s going to add 14 and 15-year-olds to the mix of a no-go zone,” outlines John Muise of the Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness. “So if you’re a 40-year-old predator and you want to have sex with a 14 or a 15-year-old boy or girl, you can’t anymore. And it’s as simple as that. So it used to be 13. Now it’s 14 and 15.

 

“Changing it to 16, all that does is it puts us in line with basically the rest of the world and brings us up to a standard that most first world and quite frankly a lot of third world countries have had in place for a long time.”

What are the ages of consent in other lands?

In the U.K., Australia, Israel and Norway, it’s 16.

In Ireland it’s a year older.

And you have to be 18 to legally have sex in the United States.

The new law won’t completely affect some existing prohibitions here. It still pins the age of protection at 18 for any sexually exploitive activity like prostitution or pornography.

How do teens feel about the idea?

 

“I really do think that the age of consent should be raised to 16, for the fact I have a lot more knowledge about sex than I did when I was 14,” a caller named Arthur told CityOnline. “You know, I didn’t know about the sexually transmitted diseases that were out there, about any sort of protection that I would have to use.”

 

Critics are angry at the alteration, insisting the Conservatives are simply trying to legislate morality and have no business in the bedrooms of its citizens.

 

Muise disagrees. “I think [the five year exemption] blows out of the water the concern that some of the people on the other side of this issue had,” he concludes.

 

Will the bill get the aegis of consent on the Hill? Muise claims he’s talked to N.D.P. MPs who have enough numbers to push any vote through. He insists they’ve told him they wanted the exemption and now that they’ve got it, they’re prepared to support the bill.

 

What the Age Of Protection Act will do

• Raise age of consent for sex from 14 to 16.
• Offers ‘five year exemption’ for 14 and 15 year olds who engage in sex with partners less than five years older, so as not to criminalize their behaviour.   
• Continues to bar sexually exploitive activity until age 18.
• Time limited exemption would protect 14 or 15 year olds who are legally married or living in common law relationships.

How to protect your kids online

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Age of Consent Around the World

Albania: 14

Algeria: 16

Argentina: 13 for males, 16 for females

Australia: 16 or 17 depending on the region

 

Bahamas: 16

Barbados: 16

Belarus: 16 for males, 18 for females.

Belgium: 16

Belize: 16

Bermuda: 16

Bolivia: 16 for males, 14 for females

Bosnia: 16

Brazil: 14 for males, 18 for females

Bulgaria: 14 males, 15 females

 

Cambodia: 16

Chile: 14

China: 14

Colombia: 14

Costa Rica: 15 for males, 16 for females

Croatia: 14

Cuba: 16

Cyprus: 17

Czech Republic: 15

 

Demark: 15

Dominican Republic: 18

 

Egypt: 18

El Salvador: 16

England (Includes Scotland and Wales): 16

Ethiopia: 15

 

Fiji: 16

Finland: 16

France: 15

 

Germany: 14 for males, 16 for females

Grenada: 17

Guam: 16

Guatemala: 18

Guyana: 15

 

Haiti: 18

Honduras: 14 for males, 17 for females

Hungary: 14

 

Iceland: 14

India: 16

Indonesia: 17

Iran: 17 for males, 14 for females

Iraq: 18

Ireland: 17

Israel: 16

Italy: 14

 

Jamaica: 16

Japan: 13, but prefecture law raises it to 18.

Jordan: 16

 

Kenya: 16

Latvia: 16

Lithuania: 16

Luxembourg: 16

 

Mexico: 12-18, varies by region

Monaco: 15

Morocco: 15

 

Namibia: 16

Nepal: 16

Netherlands: 16

New Zealand: 16

Nigeria: 13

Northern Ireland: 17

Norway: 16

 

Peru: 14

Poland: 15

 

Romania: 15

Russia: 16

 

Singapore: 16

South Africa: 16

South Korea: 13

Spain: 13

Sri Lanka: 16

Sweden: 15

Switzerland: 16

Syria: 14 for males, 15 for females

 

Taiwan: 16

Tanzania: 15

Thailand: 15

Togo: 14

Trinidad & Tobago: 16

Tunisia: 20

Turkey: 18

 

Uganda: 18

Ukraine: 16

United Arab Emirates: 18

Uruguay: 12 for males, 15 for females

 

Venezuela: 16

Vietnam: 18

Source: Avert U.K.