P.I.E controversy infographic: Ages of sexual consent around the world
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.It’s hard not to gasp. The NCCL – a campaign group for civil liberties – issued a document in 1976 calling for the age of consent to be lowered to ten.
In its vision, the official age of consent would be lowered to 14, with “special provision” made for children as young as ten who experiment sexually but are “close in age”.
Let’s take a second to remember what else it is that 10-year-olds are doing with their bodies at that age: they enjoy activities including, not hitting puberty, sleeping in novelty duvets, and skating around pavements on ‘heelys’.
Nevertheless argument over what the age of consent should be has stepped up in recent years.
In the wake of the Savile revelations the 70s are an era under scrutiny. The lawyer Barbara Hewson argued controversially that 13 was old enough for anyone to take responsibility for their sexual behaviour, and the law should reflect that to stop the “persecution of old men”. (At IndyVoices we hosted a highly critical response from the lawyer representing Savile’s victims).
What the above infographic proves is that any age of consent is a boundary constructed out of legal and social attitudes, rather than any precise physical developments, or timeworn moral codes.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments