Age of consent laws: Puritan notions of right and wrong

How and why do these “sexual health indicators” justify laws that prohibit consensual sexual activity between two people of any sex? In countries where there is an openness towards addressing sexuality and easier access to health information and services, adolescent pregnancy rates are lower. The World Health Organisation found that across Europe and the UK, comprehensive programs (including sex education, access to services, youth development, family outreach, and an open and positive attitude towards sexual health and relationships) were more effective in reducing teenage pregnancy rates.

A Columbia University study (pdf file 189KB) found that sexually transmitted infection rates in the longer term were no different among young people who had taken virginity pledges compared to those who didn’t, because they failed to use adequate protection, and that “pledgers” were less likely to use contraception when they lost their virginity.

In the Australian national study of secondary school students, around 10 per cent of males and females reported feeling attracted to people of the same sex, or both sexes, or were unsure. There is absolutely no sense in having a higher age of consent for homosexual sex - is this based on the supposition, or the hope, that in time, young people who are homosexual or bisexual will grow out of it? If so, we are still living in the dark ages and it’s time that all sexualities are acknowledged and accepted, with laws designed to protect and promote wellbeing of all, rather than punishing a completely normal minority.

The voices of young people themselves are also visibly missing in the discussion about adolescent sexuality. What do young people think? What do they worry about? Are their concerns the same as those of adults? Young rural Australian women describe sexual safety as having more to do with protecting their reputations, in a society full of double standards, than with the possibility of pregnancy or STIs. Young men and young women cite love, pleasure and curiosity as reasons for having sex. Young men and women have a diverse range of experiences, questions and concerns when it comes to sex - from how often one can masturbate, to how to negotiate relationships to how to discuss sexual practices with partners.

In a civilized world that acknowledges the rights of the child, young people also need some say in what the law does and does not let them do.

Sexuality is a core human quality, and human beings have a vast sexual cultural history. Archaeologist Timothy Taylor argues that humans are unique among the animal kingdom because of the evolution of culture, a development that has taken no less than four million years. He goes on to say that “once culture was invented, cultural variation blossomed” and that “… it is possible to document great variation in human sexuality over the past 5,000 years: bestiality, homosexuality, prostitution, transvestism, transsexuality, hormone treatments, sadomasochism, contraception, “pure breeding”, sex as an acrobatic and competitive pastime and as a transcendental spiritual discipline.”

At any point in time on any part of the planet, societal norms about sexuality will represent only a snapshot of the way sexuality is constructed at that particular moment.

Romeo and Juliet’s tragic fate opened the eyes of the adults in their world, and the play ends with a sense of optimism. In the 21st century, let’s make laws that promote the responsible care of children and young people (such as laws that prohibit potential abuses of power for the gratification of adults) and that nurture the safe and healthy development of the individual’s sexuality, in all its glorious variety.