Children`s rights activists have been pushing for decades to raise the age of consent, but stubborn social norms in this deeply religious country, where abortion and divorce are illegal, have thwarted their efforts. While raising the age of consent brings many cases of sexual abuse into the realm of crime, a UNICEF guidance note also argues that 12 is “too low” for consent because the child “barely got through puberty.” “The part of a child`s brain that processes their understanding of the consequences of their decisions has not evolved at age 12 and continues to evolve at age 18. Therefore, setting the age of sexual consent at 12 contradicts scientific findings on brain development, as well as physical and emotional maturity,” the document reads. “We welcome this legal development and hope it will help protect young girls from rape and sexual abuse,” said Josalee Deinla, spokesperson for the National Union of People`s Advocates, which provides legal aid to poor and marginalized people in the Philippines. Change is long overdue. We call on the Philippine government to prioritize the immediate passage of a law that raises the legal age of sexual consent from under 12 to under 16. #EndChildRape now. Under the revised law, signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday and released on Monday, sexual relations with anyone under the age of 16 are illegal and carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. This is in line with the “Romeo and Juliet laws” that have been enforced in several countries to avoid consensual sex between teenagers.
For example, in the state of Ohio in the United States, despite the age of consent of 16, consensual sexual relations between people 13 years of age and older with a partner under 18 years of age are considered legal. Even in France, where the age of consent is 15, consensual sexual relations between a minor and a partner for up to five years longer are allowed. RA 11648 also directs the Department of Education to include and teach age-appropriate subjects in basic education curricula that address children`s rights and protections in relation to the law. It provides equal protection for boys and girls and requires the Ministry of Education to include “age-appropriate” courses on children`s rights in primary school curricula. “The United Nations has long been concerned about the alarming age of sexual consent in the Philippines,” Gustavo González, the UN`s humanitarian coordinator and coordinator, said in a statement issued in July 2021. A separate bill targeting online child sexual abuse and exploitation is currently before Congress. “Provided that a person who has carnal intercourse with another person under sixteen (16) years of age shall have no criminal responsibility if the age difference between the parties is not more than three (3) years and the sexual act in question is manifestly consensual, non-abusive and non-exploitative: If the victim is under thirteen (13) years of age: This exception does not apply (sic),” the law states. Lawrence Fortun, one of the bill`s main sponsors, described it as “a big step forward.” Learn more about this topic and the proposed legislative changes: www.unicef.org/…/un-philippines-statement. While several reports indicate that the age of consent in Nigeria is 11, according to the Child Rights Act 2003, “no one is allowed to have sexual intercourse with a child.” The law further states that a person will be charged with a crime of rape if he or she does so, and “it does not matter whether the perpetrator believed that the person is eighteen years of age or older.” In fact, the age of consensual sex becomes 18. Let your vote count.
Sign the petition and help us reach 200,000 signatures: www.bit.ly/ENDChildRape. In a statement calling on the Senate to pass the Stop Child Rape Act in 2021, UNICEF noted that the legislation had not changed over the past 90 years. The Philippines has raised the age of sexual consent to 16 after amending a nearly century-old law, a move that child rights activists say would help protect teens from rape and abuse on Monday. The law raised the age for determining rape to 16 to better protect young people from sexual exploitation and abuse. Under the Duterte-approved bill, which is gender-neutral, any adult who has sexual contact with someone under the age of 16 would commit legal rape unless the age difference between them was three years or younger and the sex was consensual and not abusive or abusive. The law also provides for the seduction of a minor over the age of 16 but under the age of 18, “committed by a person of public authority, a priest, a domestic worker, a domestic worker, a guardian, a teacher or any person to whom the custody of the minor is entrusted in any capacity whatsoever with a sentence of imprisonment.
