Tories To Raise Age Of Sexual Consent To 16

[Moonlight_Graham]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Law/2006/02/08/1431315-sun.html

 

They'll put a motion to raise the legal age of sexual consent from 14 to 16. But they'll have clauses so that young people can still legally have sex with each other.

 

Glad to hear this IMO. I wanted this done. Harper then said he'd do it during the campaign, now he's going to try and make it happen. Heard police on TV say Canada has become a place around the world where pedifiles target as a place to live because of the lax age laws.

[no yu begin wher i end]

Good on him, I say.

[ecnarf]

But Canada's sex laws don't made peophilia any easier. From the Criminal Code of Canada:

 

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where an accused is charged with an offence under section 151 or 152, subsection 173(2) or section 271 in respect of a complainant who is twelve years of age or more but under the age of fourteen years, it is not a defence that the complainant consented to the activity that forms the subject-matter of the charge unless the accused

(a) is twelve years of age or more but under the age of sixteen years;

(b) is less than two years older than the complainant; and

© is neither in a position of trust or authority towards the complainant nor is a person with whom the complainant is in a relationship of dependency.

 

So, in other words, if the victim is between 12 and 14, and the suspect is over 16, then any sex is illegal. If the victim is under 12 (which I assume most victims of pedophiles are), then the crime is reclassified to something worse.

 

Raising the age to 16 won't make pedophilia any more difficult. I personally don't buy Harper's idea. If he wants to keep Canada from becoming a "haven for peophiles", then tougher sentences are required. I think this is just an aspect of his socially conservative agenda.

 

Not to say, however, that having an age of consent of 16 is entirely a bad thing. Great Britain, for example, is extremely liberal about sex (see: www.bbc.co.uk/teens for example, probably nsfw) and its age of consent is 16. And if you read that site I just linked to, you'll see that all authorities encourage kids to wait until they're 16 to have sex so that it's all above the law. But I just don't see how raising the age of consent will give pedophiles a more difficult time.

 

I'm also glad to see that there will be clauses allowing young people to get it on. In New Mexico and several other states, ALL sexual conduct between people under 16 is considered illegal, and all professionals (i.e. counsellors, psychologists, etc) have to report any such suspected activity to proper authorities. The attorney general has even gone so far as to subpoena abortion records of girls under 16 to track down what he is calling "abuse". However, just to make the point, he's not going after live birth records of girls under 16, which proves the shallow hypocrisy; going after "abuse" that ends in abortion, but not in live birth. That's clearly an example of operating a socially conservative agenda.

 

As it stands, I'm not overly concerned about what Harper's doing. There's clearly no harm being done and what's important is that any sexual contact (which, in the case of New Mexico, extended so far as to snogging) is considered a crime whenever someone under the age of 16 is involved. But I'm not entirely convinced as to how raising the age will discourage pedophilia.

[shenanigans87]

If he wants to keep Canada from becoming a "haven for peophiles", then tougher sentences are required.

Actually, the idea that tougher sentences reduce crime is a misconception. This is due largely to the fact that many of those committing the crimes do not believe they will be caught in the first place. Therefore, they are not taking the repercussions of the crime into consideration when they decide to commit they offence.

 

But, I do agree that the Conservative's suggestion to this may not be anymore effective either. However, I don't believe that, if passed, this legislation will be hurting anyone, so it's worth a shot. Oh no, did I just agree with the Conservatives? The end is near...

[Moonlight_Graham]

Raising the age to 16 won't make pedophilia any more difficult.

But it will allow police to charge pedophiles (or any sickos) if they are an adult & having sex with 14 or 15 years olds.

 

Even if it turns out to actually not do ANYTHING to reduce the activity, at least Canadians can say we legally do not support adults able to have sex with people 15 and under. At the very least, its the moral idea of the matter that we are changing. I'm kind of embarrassed that the law sits at 14. Personally i think it will do some good, not sure how much. It can't hurt though.

[supercanuk]

The sad part is, that it is well documented in a lot of women's organizations ( i just had a presentation about this two days ago in my law class) that a lot of pedo's don't get charged. It's weird, because if there is no legal way for these young women to have consented to sex, why haven't more charges been placed on pedo's who are accused of doing these actions? One of the main reasons is cops don't find young women "credible" theres apparently several cases where the DNA shows that the young woman was raped but her credibility is in question. If you look at the amount of evidence you also need to gather before placing a charge of sexual abuse its actually quite larger then most other charges.

Edited February 9, 2006 by supercanuk

[ecnarf]

Raising the age to 16 won't make pedophilia any more difficult.

But it will allow police to charge pedophiles (or any sickos) if they are an adult & having sex with 14 or 15 years olds.

 

Even if it turns out to actually not do ANYTHING to reduce the activity, at least Canadians can say we legally do not support adults able to have sex with people 15 and under. At the very least, its the moral idea of the matter that we are changing. I'm kind of embarrassed that the law sits at 14. Personally i think it will do some good, not sure how much. It can't hurt though.

Did you even read what I quoted from the criminal code of canada?

 

An adult having sex with someone under 16 is illegal.

 

EDIT: supercanuk, you have a point. there's a considerably documented history of women falsifying reports of rape and sexual abuse.

Edited February 10, 2006 by ecnarf

[Moonlight_Graham]

encarf, yes i did read the code. What i understoof from it was:

 

A victim aged 12-13 years old (notice they say person UNDER the age of 14) can't have sex unless the accused is 12-15 years old, and/or less than 2 years older than the victim (ie: a max of 15 years old for a 13 y/o).

 

I don't see anything in what you posted banning persons 14, 15, or 16+ years old from having sex with each other or anyone else above 14 years or older. I assume this is because the legal age in Canada stands at 14 right now.

 

Everything i've read so far says that someone 14 years or older can have consentual sex with anyone 14 years or older. Can you show otherwise?

[supercanuk]

What i meant actually was not that they were faslified at all. The DNA showed that they did get raped, the police just didn't go forward with the investigation. I'm sure there has been cases where women have falsified reports, but im sure there are also times when the police have been negligent, that's what the presentation was about, and that is surprisingly what i have read within law textbooks as well.

[screaming roommate]

They should go back to the good ol days when you would go to jail due to fornication.

[Dan #2]

Good for him. I have a feeling this will be the only time i will say that in reference to harper though.

[ecnarf]

Everything i've read so far says that someone 14 years or older can have consentual sex with anyone 14 years or older.

Edited February 12, 2006 by ecnarf

[Azalroth]

I figure things in life like this, there's wrong and then there's wrong. The unfortunate part about all this is the fact that it's life and it has been happening for Centuries. Even the almighty Ceasar was a damned pedophile. There isn't anything we'll EVER be able to do to stop it, it's going to happen whether we like it or not. I am absolutely against it and I would go to jail for murder if I ever saw an older person raping some little kid...but I also realize that it's part of life. This world ain't perfect but it's all we got right now. People have a tendancy to do things that they are told not to, normally within reason, and where there is a will there is always a way.

[Moonlight_Graham]

ecnarf i remember reading that part in the code about no anal sex until a certain age (18 or 19 or whatever). thats odd.

[josiegross]

ass fucking is for grown ups.

[ecnarf]

ass fucking is for grown ups.

Like alcohol and wearing suits.