Age of Consent Policy and Impact on Gender

Canada’s age of consent policies and related laws under the Criminal Code of Canada have undergone numerous changes and revisions over the years. I think the obvious progression in our ways of thinking about sex in relation to gender over the years are fascinating, and our striving for greater equality, inclusivity, and fairness are quite evident in changes made to age of consent policies and related laws over the past century. Thus, I thought it might be interesting not only to consider the impacts of current age of consent policies, but also to help put current policies into context by taking a look back at the impact of laws which at the time did not use gender neutral language, and blatantly imposed differing expectations and consequences for the performance of unlawful sexual acts depending on one’s gender.

The 1988 amendments to the Criminal Code included “sexual interference” and “sexual touching” that prohibit adults from engaging in any sexual activity with boys or girls below the age of consent (now 16). The seduction of a girl over 14 but below 16 who was previously of “chaste character” remained an offence until 1920. After 1920, the question of who was more to “blame” also became a deciding factor as to whether or not an individual was prosecuted.

A number of documents and publications prior to the 1988 amendments cited numerous reasons for the need for changes in consent policy and related laws, and the most often cited reason was the perceived unequal treatment of boys and girls, because earlier offences only considered females as victims. Even more, offences of unlawful sexual intercourse provided no protection for young women in terms of sexual contact short of intercourse. A further serious limitation was the law’s lack of protection for girls between the ages of 14 and 16 who were not “of chaste character” or who were found more to “blame”. Thus, the impact of these policies had the potential to be quite negative, and not only imposed differential treatment for girls and boys by viewing only girls as victims, but also that individuals who engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with a young person short of intercourse could not be punished under law.

Clearly Canada’s current age of consent policy and related laws cover a much more broadened range of sexual activity and include gender neutral language so as to not impose differential treatment based on gender (again with the exception for anal sex).

Although these laws provide much needed protection for young people and are much more inclusive, fair, and promote equality to a much greater extent than laws of the previous century, the idea of imposing a uniform age of consent across genders and individuals is still somewhat problematic in a developmental sense. Males and females develop physically and psychologically along similar developmental paths, but can reach certain cognitive and physical milestone at significantly different points. Also, because there is a wide range in age where certain milestones are reached and still considered as “normative” development, individuals across and within genders may be physically and psychologically ready to engage in sexual activity at different times than one another, and either before or after the age of consent as set by Canadian policy and law.

- L.T.