Age of consent reform

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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.

Contents

[edit] Close-in-age exemptions

A number of jurisdictions have adopted close-in-age exemptions in recent decades.[citation needed] These are frequently called Romeo and Juliet exemptions.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]

[edit] Initiatives to change legal procedures

[edit] A shift in the burden of proof

In September 1974, the United Kingdom's Sexual Law Reform Society proposed a system in which the age of consent would be replaced with what was called an "age of protection" - if not for all ages below the age of majority (18), then at least for the ages between 14 and 18, in combination with an age of consent of 14. People below this "age of protection" (if totally replacing the age of consent) – or between a lower age of consent and this age of protection -would be subject "to a context in which the onus of proof that valid consent existed would lie with the older partner". [1] [2]

The conclusive presumption (or statutory presumption) that a minor below the age of consent lacks the capacity to freely consent despite any evidence to the contrary was regarded by the British society as a "legal fiction" [3] This view would be replaced by a rebuttable presumption, where proof of actual consent could be a defense, on a case by case basis. [4]

A similar proposal was recommended in May 1974 by the UK's Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE). CHE's Working Party on Law Reform suggested a basic age of consent of 16, but 12 "in cases where a defendant could prove the existence of meaningful consent". [5][6]

This shift in the burden of proof exists today in Uruguay, for ages between 12 and 15. [7]

[edit] Initiatives to raise ages of consent

Examples of legislative initiatives to raise the age of consent that have been considered or enacted include those in Georgia (USA)[8], in Canada[9][10], in Kerala (India).[11].

[edit] Kerala, India

In January 2004, a Division bench of the Kerala's High Court in Southern India suggested that the age of consent should be raised from 16 to 18 in that state. Justice R. Basant said he considered "illogic(al)" that a legal system in which an age of 18 is used for other purposes – like the Indian Majority Act, the Contract Act, the Juvenile Justice Act, the Child Marriage Restraint Act and the Representation of People Act – has a different approach in the case of sexual consent.

[edit] Georgia, USA

In June 2005, a bill was proposed before the General Assembly of Georgia (USA) to raise the age of consent from 16 to 18.[12] The proposal is still being analyzed by local politicians.[13]

[edit] Canada

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.[14]

Former Toronto police officer Paul Gillespie said the bill would give police "more tools" in the battle against Internet predators. [14] 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).

[edit] 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.[15]

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."[16]

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."[17]

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".[18]

[edit] Amendment

Canada's age of consent was raised to 16 in the spring of 2008. The Bill came into effect on 1 May 2008 [3], after it was passed by both houses in March 2008.[19]

[edit] 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. [20][21][22][23][24]

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. [21][23]

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.[24] 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.

[edit] Lowering age of consent

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

[edit] Pedophile advocacy groups

During the late 1950s to early 1990s, several pedophile membership organizations advocated lowering or abolishing age of consent laws[25][26][27][28] to legalize sexual activities involving an adult and a child (defined as child sexual abuse by all modern cultures, socially, medically, and legally[29][30]), and for the legalization of child pornography.[28] 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[31] (although this opinion is contrary to legal and scientific consensus [32][33]) and they often portray themselves as fighting for what they describe as the rights of children to engage in consensual sex with adults.[31][28] 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.[25][34][35][36]

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[25][28][34][37][38] and today those groups that have not dissolved have only minimal membership and have ceased their activities other than through a few websites.[28][38][39][40] 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.[41][42][43]

[edit] Initiatives to lower or abolish ages of consent

[edit] 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.[44] The party currently has no parliamentary representation and did not receive enough signatures to partake in the 2006 elections.[45]

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. [46]

[edit] United Kingdom - Liberty political pressure group

In 1976, the British political pressure group Liberty, under their alternate name National Council for Civil Liberties, published a report presented to the Criminal Law Revision Committee, proposing – among other things – "a minimum age of 10 in circumstances where both partners were over 10 but below 14". Additionally, "where only one partner was in this age bracket, real proof of consent would be required", and also "an overlap of two years on either side of 14 was proposed to achieve legal flexibility, such that 12-16 year olds could legally have sex".[47][48][49] [50]

[edit] French intellectuals' manifestations against age of consent laws

1977-1979 petitions

Main article: French petitions against age of consent laws

In 1977, while a reform in the French penal code was under discussion in the parliament, a petition was addressed to the parliament calling for the abrogation of several articles of the age-of-consent law and the decriminalization of all consented relations between adults and minors below the age of fifteen[51][52] (the age of consent in France). The document was signed by the philosophers Michel Foucault, Jacques DerridaEnglish citation requested and Louis AlthusserEnglish citation requested and the pediatrician and child psychoanalyst Françoise Dolto and also by people belonging to a wide range of political positions.[51]

Additionally, two open letters were published in French newspapers, asking for the release of specific prisoners with charges of statutory rape - the first one in Le Monde (January, 1977), signed by 69 people,[citation needed] and the second [53] in Libération (March, 1979), signed by 63 people.

1978 radio conversation

Main article: Sexual Morality and the Law

On April 4, 1978, an extensive conversation detailing the reasons for their pro-abolition positions was broadcast by radio France Culture in the program "Dialogues". The participants, Michel Foucault, play-writer/actor Jean Danet and novelist/gay activist Guy Hocquenghem had all signed the 1977 petition addressed to the Parliament.

[edit] British manifestations to lower the age of consent

Main article: British manifestations to lower the age of consent

Since the 1970s, a number of actions took place in Britain in favor of lowering the age of consent, either on the grounds of claims for children's rights, gay liberation, or, more recently, "as a means to avoid unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections (STI's) and 'bad sex' via education and health promotion".[54]

Sociologist Matthew Waites, author of The age of Consent – Young People, Sexuality and Citizenship, observed that:

"By the mid-1970s the case for a lower minimum age for all was finding wider support, with questions being posed concerning the merits of lowering the legal age for male/female sexual behaviour – not only within grassroots sexual movements, but also within religious organisations and liberal intellectual circles.[55]

(…)[Contemporarily,] "significant sections of liberal opinion in the political mainstream, including prominent campaigners for children's interests and sexual health, support at least some selective decriminalization of sexual activity between young people under 16".(…) More generally in academic work, particularly in sociology, writing on sexuality from various perspectives has questioned the extent of prohibitions on sexual activity involving children. [56]

The modern Communist Party of Great Britain lists abolition of age-of-consent laws among its immediate demands, with the added provision that there be alternate legal methods to protect children from sexual abuse.[57]

[edit] Commentators

John Holt (1923 - 1985), an American teacher who authored Escape from Childhood – The Needs and Rights of Children, stated that "all people, including young people, should have the right to control their own private sex lives and acts". He considers that "it is not the proper business of the state or government to pry into such matters". While defending that children should be given the same rights and citizenship of adults, he observes that until this happens and unless children are legally emancipated, parents should at least be able to forbid their children to have sex at (their) home.

Holt refutes the concept of child innocence:

"Many of us (…) still believe and need to believe that children are 'innocent' and 'pure', that is, asexual, untainted by sexual thoughts, feelings or urges. There is increasing evidence that this is not true even of very young children, and it is certainly not true of children much past the age of ten or eleven".

He sees laws on age of consent as unfair and morally wrong, and firmly opposes them:

"For the state to deprive someone of liberty by putting him in prison is a most serious act. (…) It can only be justified by the most weighty cause, that the prisoner did real harm to others. But to make the act of sex, the mutual giving and receiving of pleasure, the excuse for putting someone in prison seems both mistaken and morally wrong".

Judith Levine, an American journalist and author of Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex, is against the legal regulation of children's involvement in sexual activities. The thrust of her argument is towards abolition:

"Legally designating a class of people categorically unable to consent to sexual relations is not the best way to protect children… Criminal law which must draw unambiguous lines, is not the proper place to adjudicate family conflicts over youngsters sexuality". [58]

Levine suggests that, if such laws are to exist, an appropriate model would be the legal framework that existed in the Netherlands during the 1990s, now abolished, which required a complaint from a parent or other authority to pursue a prosecution where 12-15 year olds were involved. [59] [60] [61]

British journalist Miranda Sawyer maintains that the age of consent should be lowered to 12 in the United Kingdom, arguing that the criminalization of all sexual activity for ages under 16 is "laughably unrealistic".[62][63] Her background is in journalism on music and youth culture, and, according to author Matthew Waites, she can be seen as someone who "subscribes to a version of feminism" that emphasizes women's autonomy instead of protection.[64] She observes that "we have sexual feelings from a very early age" and regards sex as a "natural behavior".[65]

[edit] Dutch law between 1991 and 2002

In 1991, as a result of the work of the Melai Commission, Dutch law was changed so that in cases of sexual contact between adults and 12-to-16 year olds, there would be no prosecution in the absence of any complaint from the young person herself, her parents or the Council for the Protection of Children.[citation needed] However, this measure was repealed in 2002.[66]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ WAITES, Matthew (2005, op.cit., p.132).
  2. ^ Sexual Law Reform Society, 1974. Report of the Working Party on the Law in Relation to Sexual Behaviour. "in" Antony Grey papers, file 2/1, at Hall Carpenter Archive, British Library of Political and Economic Sciences, London.
  3. ^ GREY, A. (1997, p.45). Speaking Out: Writings on Sex, Law, Politics and Society 1954-1995 (London: Cassell). Cited by Waites, Matthew (op.cit., p.132).
  4. ^ Unlike the conclusive presumption of statutory rape laws, in most other criminal cases the presumption of innocence places a legal burden upon the prosecution to prove all elements of the offense (generally beyond a resonable doubt) and to disprove all the defenses. In a rebuttable presumption scenario, by contrast, the burden of proof is placed upon the accused, who has then to prove his innocence.
  5. ^ WAITES, Matthew (2005, op.cit., pp. 132 and 243, Note 6.6)
  6. ^ Gay News, no. 46, 9 May 1974, p.3 – 'CHE Report angers reformers'.
  7. ^ Source: Uruguayan Penal Code (in Spanish), articles 272, 1, and 267. See also Ages of consent in South America.
  8. ^ hb722.html
  9. ^ FOXNews.com - Canada's Conservatives Seek to Raise Age of Consent to 16 - International News | News of the World | Middle East News | Europe News
  10. ^ CTV.ca | Mixed reviews to Tories' sexual consent bill
  11. ^ Asian Sex Gazette - Kerala, Raise age-limit for giving consent for sexual intercourse to 18 - South Asia
  12. ^ The House Bill #722 was presented by Representatives Forster (3rd District), Rice (51st District), Cooper (41st District), Randall (138th) and Walker (107th), among others. See http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2005_06/fulltext/hb722.htm
  13. ^ http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2005_06/search/hb722.htm
  14. ^ a b CTV.ca | Age of Consent FAQ
  15. ^ She talked on CTV News Channel's "Mike Duffy Live". Source: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060622/age_consent_060622/20060623/ .
  16. ^ Age of Consent (July 2006)
  17. ^ Sixteen and ready for sex? | Macleans.ca - Canada - Features
  18. ^ CTV.ca | Mixed reviews to Tories' sexual consent bill
  19. ^ [1] bill comes into effect
  20. ^ Woodlands man admits he seduced teen online, KHOU.com, July 10, 2006
  21. ^ a b The Woodlands Man Sentenced to Prison for Child Pornography, United States Attorney's Office (USAO) - Southern District of Texas, November 7, 2007.
  22. ^ Local men used Internet to lure teens, arrange clandestine meetings by Sue Thackeray, Houston Community Newspapers, March 17, 2005.
  23. ^ a b Man gets 17 years in child porn case by Jamie Nash, Houston Community Newspapers, November 14, 2007.
  24. ^ a b Web luring case raises age-of-consent issue, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), March 11, 2005
  25. ^ a b c Jenkins, Philip (2006). Decade of Nightmares: The End of the Sixties and the Making of Eighties America. Oxford University Press. pp. p120. ISBN 0-19-517866-1. 
  26. ^ Spiegel, Josef (2003). Sexual Abuse of Males: The Sam Model of Theory and Practice. Routledge. pp. p5, p9. ISBN 1-56032-403-1. 
  27. ^ "The Case for Abolishing the Age of Consent Laws," an editorial from NAMBLA News (1980), reproduced in We Are Everywhere: A Historical Sourcebook of Gay and Lesbian Politics. Ed. by Mark Blasius and Shane Phelan. London: Routledge, 1997. pgs. 459-67.
  28. ^ a b c d e Eichewald, Kurt (August 21, 2006). "From Their Own Online World, Pedophiles Extend Their Reach"". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/technology/21pedo.html. 
  29. ^ Levesque, Roger J. R. (1999). Sexual Abuse of Children: A Human Rights Perspective. Indiana University Press. pp. pp1,5-6,176-180. 
  30. ^ "United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. 1989. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm. 
  31. ^ a b Dallam, S. J. (2002). "Science or Propaganda? An examination of Rind, Tromovitch and Bauserman (1998)". Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 9 (3/4), 109-134
  32. ^ Finkelhor, David (1993). A Sourcebook on Child Sexual Abuse. SAGE. p. 26. ISBN 0803927495. 
  33. ^ Kinnear, Karen (2007). Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Reference Handbook. ABC-CLIO. p. 3. ISBN 1851099050. 
  34. ^ a b Jenkins, Philip (1992). Intimate Enemies: Moral Panics in Contemporary Great Britain. Aldine Transaction. pp. p75. ISBN 0-202-30436-1. 
  35. ^ Harris Mirkin. "The Pattern of Sexual Politics: Feminism, Homosexuality and Pedophilia". J.Homosex Vol. 37, No. 2 (1999). 
  36. ^ Heinze, Eric (1995). Sexual Orientation: A Human Right : An Essay on International Human Rights Law. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 150-1. ISBN 0-7923-3018-8. 
  37. ^ Stanton, Domna C. (1992). Discourses of Sexuality: From Aristotle to AIDS. University of Michigan Press. pp. p405. ISBN 0-472-06513-0. 
  38. ^ a b Hagan, Domna C.; Marvin B. Sussman (1988). Deviance and the family. Haworth Press. pp. p131. ISBN 0-86656-726-7. 
  39. ^ Benoit Denizet-Lewis (2001). "Boy Crazy," Boston Magazine.
  40. ^ Trembaly, Pierre. (2002) "Social interactions among paedophiles." [2]
  41. ^ Mattei, Monique; Ferraro, Eoghan Casey, Michael McGrath (2004). Investigating Child Exploitation and Pornography: The Internet, Law and Pornography. Academic Press. pp. pp7-8,112-113. ISBN 0-12-163105-2. 
  42. ^ Bocij, Paul (2004). Cyberstalking: Harassment in the Internet Age and How to Protect Your Family. Greenwood Publishing. pp. pp160-176. ISBN 0-275-98118-5. 
  43. ^ Clark, Mathew D. (2002). Obscenity, Child Pornography and Indecency. pp. pp74-76. ISBN 1-59033-396-9. 
  44. ^ Naastenliefde, Vrijheid & Diversiteit: Nieuws (official website). "Vandaag, 31 mei, is de partij officieel opgericht." Accessed 31 May 2006. (Dutch)
  45. ^ "Pedopartij haalt verkiezingen niet". NOS. 2006-10-10. http://www.nos.nl/nos/artikelen/2006/10/art000001C6EBF08CBC0473.html.  (Dutch)
  46. ^ "Naastenliefde, Vrijheid & Diversiteit 2006 Programma" (2006 platform; official website). Accessed 31 May 2006. (Dutch)
  47. ^ Waites, Matthew (2005, p.135-136). The age of consent – Young people, Sexuality and Citizenship. New York/London: Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-2173-4. ISBN 1-4039-2173-3.
  48. ^ The author Matthew Waites does not specify if this same rule would also apply to sex between 10-14 year olds, 11-15 year olds, and 13-17 year olds.
  49. ^ Sexual Offences: Evidence to the Criminal Law Revision Committee, NCCL report no. 13, February 1976, p.6 (London: National Council for Civil Liberties).
  50. ^ The General Secretary of NCCL at the time of the report's publication was Patricia Hewitt, formerly (2001-2005) Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and Minister for Women and presently Secretary of State for Health, both under Tony Blair's government. Harriet Harman, Solicitor General in the Tony Blair Administration, also worked for the NCCL.
  51. ^ a b http://www.decadi.com/dignaction/Fpetit.html
  52. ^ Foucault, Hocquenghem and Danet are referenced several times as petitioners in the Michel Foucault's text "Sexual Morality and the Law." The name of Françoise Dolto and the term "people belonging to a wide range of political positions" are mentioned on page 273 of the same text (see also the online version). The names of philosophers Jacques Derrida, Louis Althusser and André Glucksmann comes from the Dignaction.org website (in French).
  53. ^ http://www.decadi.com/dignaction/Fpetit.html (French)
  54. ^ Waites, Matthew. The Age of Consent – Young People, Sexuality and Citizenship (2005, op.cit., pp. 122 and 220).
  55. ^ Waites, Matthew (2005, op.cit., pp. 132-133).
  56. ^ Waites, Matthew (2005, p.220).
  57. ^ Communist Party of Great Britain - Draft Programme
  58. ^ LEVINE, Judith. Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex, p. 88. Minneapolis: 2002. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 0-8166-4006-8.
  59. ^ WAITES, Matthews. The age of consent – Young people, Sexuality and Citizenship, p. 221. New York: 2005. Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 1-4039-2173-3.
  60. ^ LEVINE, Judith (op. cit.), p. 89.
  61. ^ A similar model exists today in Brazil, where a complaint from a parent is necessary to prosecute cases where the minor is above the age of consent (14) but below the age of majority (18) (source: articles 218 and 225 of the Brazilian Penal Code - in Portuguese).
  62. ^ She stated her position in the UK's Channel Four documentary Sex before 16: Why the Law is Failing (16 November 2003, 9-10 p.m.).
  63. ^ SAWYER, Miranda. Newspaper article – 'Sex is not Just for Grown-Ups', The Observer, 2 November 2003, Review section, pp.1-2.
  64. ^ WAITES, Matthew (2005, op.cit., p. 221-222)
  65. ^ SAWYER, Miranda. 'Sex is not Just for Grown-Ups' (op. cit.), p. 2.
  66. ^ Hekma, G. (2004) The decline of sexual radicalism in the Netherlands, in Hekma, G. (Ed) Past and Present of Radical Sexual Politics. Amsterdam: Mosse Foundation

[edit] Further reading

  • University of Minnesota – Dept. of Communications Studies – Detailed summary of the whole book "Politics, Philosophy, Culture", chapter by chapter, including a summary in 9 paragraphs of Chapter 16, "Sexual Morality and the Law".
  • HOLT, John. Escape from Childhood – The Needs and Rights of Children. E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc.: New York, 1974; Clarke, Irwin & Company Ltd., Toronto/Vancouver, 1974. ISBN 0-525-09955-7
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