The change in Canada’s age of consent policy from 14 (where it remained for over 100 years) to 16 years of age in May of 2008 was the cause of great controversy, and has received support and criticism from different human services and other organizations.
The government of Canada believed increasing the age of consent would provide greater protection for children, and police believed the bill would provide them with “more tools” in the battle against internet predators. Other groups that supported the increase in the age of consent were the National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC), the Canada Family Action Coalition (CFAC), Canadian Crime Victim Foundation (CCVF), and Canadians Addressing Sexual Exploitation (CASE).
The change in the age of consent has also received criticism from various organizations, including the pro-choice Canadian Federation of Sexual Health (formerly Planned Parenthood), The Canadian AIDS Society, the AIDS Committee of Toronto, Egale Canada, and the Child Welfare League of Canada.
The Canadian Federation of Sexual Health believes that the legislation will do nothing to keep youth from harm, and instead actually infringes upon the rights of youth in terms of their ability to make decisions about their own sexuality.
The Canadian AIDS Society has stated that “increasing the age of consent could result in young people being more secretive about their sexual practices and not seeking out the information they need. This will place youth at an increased risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections”. The AIDS Committee of Toronto also has concerns about how raising the age of consent will make it more difficult for HIV/AIDS information and support to reach already marginalized youth (e.g. gay, lesbian, transgendered). The Committee is further concerned that a raise in the age of consent may "interfere with young people’s access to appropriate and ethical healthcare services" (birth control, HIV and STI testing and treatment, condoms, abortion services), as well as possible affects to sexual health education in schools in terms of decreased availability of HIV/AIDS prevention information to young people, and "increased public pressure to reduce or eliminate sexual health and AIDS prevention education in schools".
Similarly, Egale Canada, a national organization that advances equality and justice for LGBTQ individuals and their families, also opposes the increase in the age of consent. Egale believes that "the criminal code already protects 14 and 15-year olds from exploitative sexual activity and internet predators", and also believes that "the prospect of legal sanction and third party disclosure could discourage young people from accessing preventative and therapeutic health services and other forms of information and assistance".
Finally, the Child Welfare League of Canada criticizes the bill’s effect of "removing judicial discretion in cases involving 14 and 15 year olds". They believe that the age of consent is an "arbitrary cutoff", and "reduces the flexibility to apply the law in a much more specific and individualized way", or on a case-by-case basis.
Clearly there are many differing yet valid concerns from various services and organizations in regard to the change in Canada’s age of consent policy. I believe that these concerns and the impact of the recent increase in the age of consent are crucial to evaluate so we may come to know its effects on young people’s sexual behaviour and their accessing of sexual health and information services.
- L.T.
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