Abstract
The controlling concept behind “age of consent” or “statutory rape” laws is the assumption that young people below a certain age have insufficient judgment, psychological maturity, or powers of resistance to be able to give informed consent to sexual intimacy with another person. That so many young persons choose to explore their sexuality at ages below the legally mandated minimums problematizes the laws' effectiveness and wisdom in the eyes of many critics. Scholars of gender and sexuality are actively involved in the debates, weighing the utility of these laws for agendas of child protection versus the repressive effects of the laws in privileging parental or state control over adolescents' sexual self‐determination and bodily autonomy. Although contemporary age of consent legislation does not distinguish on the basis of a young person's gender, this indifference was not the case historically.
Published Version
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