Age of consent laws (comparison of changes in)
People often make claims such as, "But such-and-such is illegal!" These people seem to be unaware that things change, and that what seems "normal" to them now may only be a temporal fluke.
Here is a listing of changes in the age of consent laws:
- Primary Source
- Age of Consent Laws [Table]
Annotation
Information on the ages used historically in western age of consent laws is not readily available. This table has been compiled from a combination of historical and contemporary sources. By 1880, the first date chosen, many western nations had established an age of consent for the first time, typically of 12 or 13 years. By 1920, when the influence of reform campaigns that established a new link between the age of consent and prostitution had run its course, most had revised their age upward, to 14 or 15 in European nations, and 16 in the Anglo-American world. In the last decades of the 20th century, states and nations with ages below those averages amended their laws to move closer to them. In Europe that growing conformity owed much to moves toward greater European integration. Given that the rationale for the age of consent has remained essentially unchanged in its emphasis on the need to protect 'immature' children, the table highlights the shifting and various definitions of childhood employed across time and cultures.
Source
Date compiled from the following sources: Hirschfeld, Magnus. The Homosexuality of Men and Women. Translated by Michael Lombardi-Nash. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books, 2000; Killias, Martin. "The Emergence of a New Taboo: The Desexualization of Youth in Western Societies Since 1800." European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research 8 (2000): 466; Odem, Mary. Delinquent Daughters: Policing and Protecting Adolescent Female Sexuality in the United States, 1885-1920. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995; "Worldwide Ages of Consent," AVERTing HIV and Aids, <a href="/web/20131129032756/http://www.avert.org/aofconsent.htm">www.avert.org/aofconsent.htm</a> (accessed November 29, 2007).
Primary Source Text
Age Limit in Age of Consent Laws in Selected Countries
| 1880 | 1920 | 2007 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| Belgium | - | 16 | 16 |
| Bulgaria | 13 | 13 | 14 |
| Denmark | 12 | 12 | 15 |
| England & Wales | 13 | 16 | 16 |
| Finland | - | 12 | 16 |
| France | 13 | 13 | 15 |
| Germany | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| Greece | - | 12 | 15 |
| Italy | - | 16 | 14 |
| Luxembourg | 15 | 15 | 16 |
| Norway | - | 16 | 16 |
| Portugal | 12 | 12 | 14 |
| Romania | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Russia | 10 | 14 | 16 |
| Scotland | 12 | 12 | 16 |
| Spain | 12 | 12 | 13 |
| Sweden | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Switzerland | various | 16 | 16 |
| Turkey | 15 | 15 | 18 |
| Argentina | - | 12 | 13 |
| Brazil | - | 16 | 14 |
| Chile | 20 | 20 | 18 |
| Ecuador | - | 14 | 14 |
| Canada | 12 | 14 | 14 |
| Australia | |||
| New South Wales | 12 | 16 | 16 |
| Queensland | 12 | 17 | 16 |
| Victoria | 12 | 16 | 16 |
| Western Australia | 12 | 14 | 16 |
| United States | |||
| Alabama | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| Alaska | - | 16 | 16 |
| Arizona | 12 | 18 | 18 |
| Arkansas | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| California | 10 | 18 | 18 |
| Colorado | 10 | 18 | 15 |
| Connecticut | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| District of Columbia | 12 | 16 | 16 |
| Delaware | 7 | 16 | 16 |
| Florida | 10 | 18 | 18 |
| Georgia | 10 | 14 | 16 |
| Hawaii | - | - | 16 |
| Idaho | 10 | 18 | 18 |
| Illinois | 10 | 16 | 17 |
| Indiana | 12 | 16 | 16 |
| Iowa | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| Kansas | 10 | 18 | 16 |
| Kentucky | 12 | 16 | 16 |
| Louisiana | 12 | 18 | 17 |
| Maine | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| Maryland | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| Massachusetts | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| Michigan | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| Minnesota | 10 | 18 | 16 |
| Mississippi | 10 | 18 | 16 |
| Missouri | 12 | 18 | 17 |
| Montana | 10 | 18 | 16 |
| Nebraska | 10 | 18 | 17 |
| Nevada | 12 | 18 | 16 |
| New Hampshire | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| New Jersey | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| New Mexico | 10 | 16 | 17 |
| New York | 10 | 18 | 17 |
| North Carolina | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| North Dakota | 10 | 18 | 18 |
| Ohio | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| Oklahoma | - | - | 16 |
| Oregon | 10 | 16 | 18 |
| Pennsylvania | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| Rhode Island | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| South Carolina | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| South Dakota | 10 | 18 | 16 |
| Tennessee | 10 | 18 | 18 |
| Texas | 10 | 18 | 17 |
| Utah | 10 | 18 | 16 |
| Vermont | 10 | 16 | 16 |
| Virginia | 12 | 16 | 18 |
| Washington | 12 | 18 | 16 |
| West Virginia | 12 | 16 | 16 |
| Wisconsin | 10 | 16 | 18 |
| Wyoming | 10 | 16 | 16 |
Source: "Age of Consent Laws [Table]," in Children and Youth in History, Item #24, http://chnm.gmu.edu/cyh/primary-sources/24 (accessed March 24, 2015). Annotated by Stephen Robertson
