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