Talk:Age of consent

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This article is part of the Age of consent series of articles project.

In the interest of accuracy and quality it was decided by consensus^* to hold these pages to a high standard of verification and to avoid ambiguity through the use of prose (not dot points) discussing the relevant statutes, case law or other authorities.

To this end all information must be properly referenced. Where writing about legislation or other law, the appropriate statutes and similar must be cited. Where appropriate, portions of the legislation can be quoted. Where possible, a link to an up-to-date online copy of the legislation can be included (preferably, but not necessarily, in English). It is preferable to include any such references in-line, rather than in a separate <ref> section at the bottom of the page. This is to make it easier for readers to find the references in context.

The unfettered age of consent should be in bold text, in order that it stand out. No other ages should be in bold text. Any exceptions to should then be discussed afterwards (close in age exceptions, same sex relations etc).

For an example of a properly formatted article see the Ages of consent in Australia and Oceania.

*(The original age of consent formatting discussions began here)

The articles in this group are	Helpful repositories of legislation
Age of consent Age-of-consent reform Ages of consent in Africa Ages of consent in Asia Ages of consent in Oceania (including Australia) Ages of consent in Europe Ages of consent in North America Ages of consent in the United States Ages of consent in South America Age of consent in Brazil List of countries by age of consent	Worldlii: Global Austlii: Australia Bailii: Britain and Ireland Canlii: Canada Commonlii: Commonwealth Cylaw: Cyprus Droit: French HKlii: Hong Kong	Juri Burkina Cornell law NZlii: New Zealand Paclii: Pacific Islands Saflii: Southern Africa

Please note that ageofconsent.com is not an acceptable reference as it has not been updated since 2002.

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Graphic overview full of errors

In the graphic overview of age of consent, there are several errors. For instance in Denmark and Sweden the age of consent is 15, but the light blue colours in the graphic overview says 14. This should be corrected. 217.71.1.184 (talk) 21:11, 22 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Nepal

Why the map shows that age of consent in Nepal is 16, while the wikipedia article ("Ages of consent in Asia") and all the sources say it's 18? The map is misleading. The age of consent in Nepal is 18. It should be colored green. Cyanmax (talk) 13:57, 13 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Cyanmax,

If you believe there is an error with the image, you can download it from the Commons here[1] and correct it, then upload a new version. It will show on Wikipedia automatically. It would be helpful if you cited your reference as it seems to be lacking as well. There is also discussion on the talk page of the image itself you may find helpful.

Please do not remove the image in its entirety, thank you! 333fortheain (talk) 01:41, 8 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]

old citation for mistake of age defense

The current citation provided for mistake of age defense is from 1965. While no claims are made as to which states recognize such a defense, this goes beyond stretching credulity.

I have found one more current source discussing this issue; even though this other source is over 20 years old, it's still an improvement. It is No Provincial or Transient Notion: The Need for a Mistake of Age Defense in Child Rape Prosecutions by Jarrod F. Reich, dated 2004.

Given the relative dearth of discussion of this issue in the literature, I suggest adding this source in the article rather than replacing the existing source. Fabrickator (talk) 17:37, 23 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Delaware close-in-age exception under age 30

Current text claims that in Delaware, it is allowed for an older partner under 30 to have sex with teenagers aged 16 and 17. As I read the pertinent portions of the statute, it seems like this would still violate Delaware law, just that only one of the two sections of the law would apply if the older person is under age 30. Fabrickator (talk) 18:01, 23 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Age of consent of females, not males

Though not mentioned directly, the entire concept of age of consent is revolving around females, not males. I suggest we make this fact more prominent somehow. Sources are constantly talking about women. AXONOV (talk) ⚑ 19:23, 28 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Alexander Davronov: Just not so, at least, not in the current era and not in most parts of the world. But I would suggest that anybody who's relying on Wikipedia to determine whether they would be committing a crime by having sex with a certain individual based on their age is a fool. Fabrickator (talk) 21:52, 28 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]