age of consent
Statutory permission birthday
The age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is legally considered capable of agreeing to sexual activity.
Below this age, sexual contact is statutory rape or another crime regardless of apparent willingness.
The age varies by jurisdiction, typically ranging from 14 to 18: The age of consent in that state is 16.
Established by enacted law
- jurisdictionLegal authority's scope
- legislationOfficial enactment of statutes
- criminal lawStatutes defining punishable offenses
- penal codeLaws governing offenses
legal age · age of majority · legal capacity · minor · adult · emancipation · statute · judicial
Preventing harm or loss
- vulnerabilityOpenness to harm
- childhoodLife's earliest phase
- guardianshipLegal care of another
- welfareComfort and prosperity
exploitation · grooming · predator · abuse prevention · child protection · power imbalance · duty of care · mandatory reporting
Independent decision-making capacity
- agencyPower to act
- bodily autonomyControl over one's physique
- moralityRight and wrong principles
- rightsJustified claims to freedoms
dignity · exploitation · power dynamics · informed choice · boundaries · cultural norms · paternalism · liberties
Teenage developmental stage
- pubertySexual development stage
- developmentProgress toward maturity
- readinessState of being prepared
- judgmentReasoned decision-making capacity
discernment · cognitive development · emotional maturity · brain development · decision-making · understanding · comprehension · self-awareness
statutory
Established by enacted law
- jurisdictionLegal authority's scope
- legislationOfficial enactment of statutes
- criminal lawStatutes defining punishable offenses
penal code · legal age · age of majority · legal capacity · minor · adult · emancipation · statute · judicial · marriageable age
safeguarding
Preventing harm or loss
- vulnerabilityOpenness to harm
- childhoodLife's earliest phase
- guardianshipLegal care of another
welfare · exploitation · grooming · predator · abuse prevention · child protection · power imbalance · duty of care · mandatory reporting · trafficking
autonomy
Independent decision-making capacity
- agencyPower to act
- bodily autonomyControl over one's physique
- moralityRight and wrong principles
rights · dignity · exploitation · power dynamics · informed choice · boundaries · cultural norms · paternalism · liberties · self-determination
adolescence
Teenage developmental stage
- pubertySexual development stage
- developmentProgress toward maturity
- readinessState of being prepared
judgment · discernment · cognitive development · emotional maturity · brain development · decision-making · understanding · comprehension · self-awareness · coming-of-age
- age-related termsretirement age, driving age, drinking age, voting age, legal age
- life stagesbaby, teenager, adult, childhood, adolescence
- age limitsage limit, age requirement, age threshold, age restriction, age of majority
- marriage requirementslegal age, witnesses, marriage certificate, officiant, legal capacity
- sexual ethicssexual morality, sexual ethics, chastity, adultery, human sexuality
- Sex Crimesrape, sexual assault, molestation, statutory rape, sexual battery
age of consentchildhood
Life's earliest phase
nonage · minority · infancy · prepubescence · immaturity
age of consentprotected status
Formally shielded classification
wardship · parental authority · guardianship · in loco parentis
consent, ages, ageless, dissent, assent, ageism, consented, consenting, consents