Underage Sex Research Articles

Romeo & Juliet Laws: Investigating UK Public Perceptions of Young Consensual Sex and the Effects of Age Gaps and Perpetrator and Respondent Gender

ABSTRACT Public perception of regulated sexual behavior is a crucial factor in considering policy, particularly when UK sexual consent laws could criminalize the many young people who are increasingly engaging in underage sex. In contrast, other countries have progressively implemented consent age-spans to respect sexual autonomy while simultaneously protecting young people from sexual exploitation. This study investigated UK perceptions of consensual underage sex between similar-aged adolescents, with predominant focus on age-spans, as an adaptive alternative to dropping consent age. An online experimental survey of members of the UK public (n = 336) manipulated age-gaps, perpetrator gender, and respondent gender. Supporting the hypothesis, results showed more support (i.e., reduced condemnation of the situation, perpetrator, and victim) was given for sex with age gaps of up to 2 years than those larger. Gender differences were present only for age gaps of 3 and 4 years, where harsher situation and perpetrator judgments were elicited when the perpetrator was male. To our knowledge, this is the first UK-based study investigating perceptions of similar-aged consensual underage sex, and therefore forms a baseline for future research. Results are discussed in terms of acceptability of behavior and present important evidence for policymakers to consider reviewing UK consent laws in line with international legislation.

Childhood and adolescent factors shaping vulnerability to underage entry into sex work: a quantitative hierarchical analysis of female sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya

ObjectiveTo explore factors associated with early age at entry into sex work, among a cohort of female sex workers (FSWs) in Nairobi, Kenya.BackgroundYounger age at sex work initiation increases the...

Sex in the Summer-House

Janice Niemann, “Sex in the Summer-House: Setting in Victorian Pornography” (pp. 42–69) Despite scholarship on the history and publication of pornography, on laws surrounding Victorian pornography, and on pornography’s mutually informative relationship with nineteenth-century medical texts, actual Victorian pornographic texts remain relatively understudied. Taking up Lisa Sigel’s call to action that specific “motifs in nineteenth-century pornography deserve closer study,” and responding to previous scholars who have identified setting in Victorian pornography as largely inconsequential, I suggest that certain settings have significant literary impacts in Victorian pornography. Adopting the summer-house as a test case in three Victorian pornographic texts—The Romance of Lust (1873–76), Venus in India (1889), and Lovely Nights of Young Girls (c. 1895)—I investigate specific moments of sex in the summer-house, arguing that the liminality of summer-house settings facilitates character behavior and genre performance being pushed to their own liminal boundaries. Ultimately, I posit that the literary summer-house is a recognizable trope in Victorian pornography, and one that asks us to reexamine the impact of specific settings in the genre. Note: this paper discusses underage sex, incest, and rape.

Commercial sexual exploitation of children in Zimbabwe: A threat to human and social development

AbstractCommercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in child sex work is reportedly rising in Zimbabwe. While children of both sexes are affected, more females than males are forced to engage in sexual acts in exchange for money, food, access to shelter, education or some other gains from adults who control these means of survival and commodities. Drivers of CSEC include socioeconomic factors, negative peer pressure, childhood abuse, the influence of uncensored social media, and, more recently, the economic impact of COVID‐19. Involvement in underage sex work exposes children to severe adversities, such as psychosocial and mental health disorders, physical and biological injuries, venereal diseases and HIV. CSEC is a growing concern for resource‐limited countries, disenfranchises children and robs particularly the girl child of a better future. The worsening socioeconomic landscape in Zimbabwe and the COVID‐19 pandemic have exacerbated the problem. Solving the problem of CSEC requires a multipronged approach that involves stakeholders from several sectors, including public health, education, social services, security and the legal fraternity. There is a need to empower communities, empower civil society and development partners, enhance legal frameworks, provide messaging, education and vocational training, as well as rehabilitative services for affected children and their families. CSEC is a violation of the child's rights and a public health concern that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency to preserve the next generation's human capital necessary for the sustainable development of Zimbabwe.

Are Female Paraphilias Hiding in Plain Sight? Risqu\xe9 Male\u2013Male Erotica for Women in Sinophone and Anglophone Regions

Female-oriented male–male erotica is a genre of popular culture often know as Boys’ Love (BL), yaoi, and danmei. It is one of the largest by-and-for women sexual subcultures and a global phenomenon. With the largest data sets in the field, we ask: Which risqué sexual content do Sinophone (Chinese-speaking) and Anglophone (English-speaking) participants particularly enjoy in BL and does this differ between cultures?, and Are there sub-demographics in Sinophone and in Anglophone culture who enjoy particular forms of risqué sexual content in BL and do these forms relate also to enjoyment of particular storylines and concern with legal issues? The material studied meets the DSM-5 definition of the paraphilic, and little is known about paraphilias in women or in the general population. Using Categorical Principal Component Analysis we explored one 15-response question from our Sinophone (N = 1922) and Anglophone (N = 1715) BL fandom surveys: Which risqué sexual content do you particularly enjoy in BL? We also tested for associations with seven demographic and other BL content-related questions. Notably, the component structure was nearly replicated between the two independent samples, in order of strength: BDSM Specialist, Mechanoid/Animal Sex Specialist, Underage Sex Specialist, and Minority Paraphilia Specialist. In both samples, it was the avid BL fans and/or those who liked explicitly sexual stories, a largely overlapping demographic, who most engage the risqué content, while, for the Sinophone, this included also more non-heterosexual and/or other-gendered people. We conclude that women’s paraphilias have been largely overlooked because they might be expressed more commonly through fantasy than action, that their mass expression has awaited both the means and the market force, and that current conceptualization of, and assumptions about, paraphilias is overly modeled on that of men.

Medical confidentiality in underage consent sex in Brazil.

This paper is a theoretical discussion that explores medical confidentiality within the context of Brazilian law about underage consent sex. Brazilian law determines that the age of consent for sexual intercourse is 14 years. Before this limit, physicians should report the sexual activity of adolescents, breaking the confidentiality of the consultation. The medical code of ethics prohibits the breach of professional confidentiality of a minor patient, including their parents or legal representatives, unless a lack of disclosure may cause harm to the patient. The legal issue seems to go beyond the ethical issue; however, the breach of confidentiality can cause more risks than benefits by removing these adolescents from health services. The law aims to protect the sexual dignity of teenagers under 14 years old, but the particularities of each case must be considered, and flexibility concerning medical confidentiality should be included.

‘Schoolies Week’ on the Gold Coast, Australia

Abstract ‘Schoolies Week’ on the Gold Coast, Australia, is an annual celebration by students completing high school. These 17–18-year-olds want to celebrate their freedom and the completion of an important stage of their lives. For some students this may be their first time away from home with their friends. For most students it is a time of celebration, but they are sometimes criticized for drinking alcohol, taking drugs, indulging in underage sex and high-spirits partying. This may cause problems for residents and other tourists. The newspaper coverage of Schoolies Week is mostly negative and detracts from the destination’s image. After some years grappling with Schoolies Week, the Queensland State Government intervened to provide a safe environment for these celebrations. They created several ‘diversionary’ events to provide activities for ‘schoolies’, and there is a large police presence as well as many volunteers to support those who are drugged or drunk. How do you think Schoolies Week should be managed? Information © CAB International 2021

Statutory is Not Rape: Reshaping the Criminalization of Underage Sex, and Beyond

Statutory rape is a unique form of rape, age-dependent, on the one hand, and consent-indifferent, on the other hand. This ancient offense had historically aimed to protect little girls' sexual chastity as parental property. Although this rationale is outdated and obsolete, the offense has survived. The battle against underage intercourse endures, relying on the age of victims or age disparities to base the assumption, that intercourse, even with consent, is nevertheless unwanted, causing teenagers physical and emotional harms. When carefully reviewing the modern attributed rationales of the offense, we find some unconvincing so-called harms, on the one hand, and incoherency of over-inclusiveness and under-inclusiveness, on the other hand. Age and numbers ease legal enforcement, prosecution and conviction, as well as social condemnation. However, they also flatten the offense, over-criminalize, and focus our attention away from the main problem: preventing sexual exploitation. The article proposes to reform statutory rape law, to better fit the rationale of preventing sexual exploitation and negate over-criminalization, either by including exploitation as an element of the offense, or by creating a unique defense of proving its absence. What is wrong in underage sex is not really age or age disparity, but something much more significant: abuse of power, lies and manipulation, disrespect and objectification. This valuable normative lesson exceeds statutory rape. This article calls to further utilize the refined normative basis, to tackle other facets of sexual exploitation, far outside the realm of underage sex, and protect adults from offensive social norms and practices, that are currently uncovered by the present rape offenses.

Unpacking the 2-year age-gap provision in relation to the decriminalisation of underage consensual sex in South Africa

Over the past 24 years, the South African criminal justice system has undergone major transformations in relation to sexual offences, including sexual violence against children. More recently, there have been a number of developments to certain provisions in the law relating to sexual offences involving children. In response to the Teddy Bear Clinic Court Case and Constitutional Court ruling, sexual offences legislation related to underage consensual sex was amended. In this regard, the legislation now decriminalises underage consensual sexual activity between adolescent peers aged 12 - 15-year-olds. In addition, the law provides broader definitions for consensual sexual activity, including decriminalising consensual sex and sexual activity between older adolescents (above age of consent for sex, i.e. 16 - 17-year-olds) and younger adolescents (below the age of consent for sex, i.e. 12 - 15-year-olds), granted that there is no more than a 2-year age gap between them. One of the reasons for decriminalising consensual sexual activities between adolescent peers was because the expanded legislation cast the net for sexual offences so wide that the effects had far-reaching harmful impacts, particularly for girls, who would then be exposed to the criminal justice system. This paper focuses on unpacking the 2-year age-gap provision in SA legislation relative to selected better-resourced countries, including the rationale and the potential implications for adolescents (outside of the 2-year age gap provisions), for researchers, service providers and policy-makers. It concludes with some recommendations for law reform and further research.

Unpacking the 2-year age-gap provision in relation to the decriminalisation of underage consensual sex in South Africa

Over the past 24 years, the South African criminal justice system has undergone major transformations in relation to sexual offences, including sexual violence against children. More recently, there have been a number of developments to certain provisions in the law relating to sexual offences involving children. In response to the Teddy Bear Clinic Court Case and Constitutional Court ruling, sexual offences legislation related to underage consensual sex was amended. In this regard, the legislation now decriminalises underage consensual sexual activity between adolescent peers aged 12 - 15-year-olds. In addition, the law provides broader definitions for consensual sexual activity, including decriminalising consensual sex and sexual activity between older adolescents (above age of consent for sex, i.e. 16 - 17-year-olds) and younger adolescents (below the age of consent for sex, i.e. 12 - 15-year-olds), granted that there is no more than a 2-year age gap between them. One of the reasons for decriminalising consensual sexual activities between adolescent peers was because the expanded legislation cast the net for sexual offences so wide that the effects had far-reaching harmful impacts, particularly for girls, who would then be exposed to the criminal justice system. This paper focuses on unpacking the 2-year age-gap provision in SA legislation relative to selected better-resourced countries, including the rationale and the potential implications for adolescents (outside of the 2-year age gap provisions), for researchers, service providers and policy-makers. It concludes with some recommendations for law reform and further research.

Factors Associated with Underage Sex in Malaysia: A Secondary Data Analysis of Malaysia Global School-Based Student Health Survey 2012

Adherence to therapeutic regimens is a major challenge among people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus to achieve glycemic control. This study aimed to examine the factors influencing adherence to therapeutic regimens among 200 people with Type 2 diabetes at an Outpatient Department in two Yangon General Hospitals. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed the participants had good adherence to their therapeutic regimens. However, their adherence to specific diet, physical exercise, and blood glucose monitoring was lower than adherence to medication and foot care. The prevalence of poor glycemic control (71%) was significantly higher in this study. Analysis indicated patients with better family support, good patient-healthcare provider relationship, better self-efficacy and fewer comorbidities were better adhered to therapeutic regimens accounted for 71.9% of the variability in adherence behavior (R2 = 0.719, F)1,194) = 72.98, p < 0.001). Therefore, the study recommends nurses and other healthcare providers consider five predictors to develop effective family-based interventions that empower people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus to improve their adherence to therapeutic regimens.

Childhood Experiences of Sexual Violence, Pregnancy, and Marriage Associated With Child Sex Trafficking Among Female Sex Workers in Two US-Mexico Border Cities.

To quantitatively assess the relationships of childhood experiences of marriage, pregnancy, and sexual violence with underage sex trafficking. Cross-sectional survey data from a population-based sample of 603 female sex workers from Tijuana and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, were collected in 2013 and 2014, and we analyzed the data to evaluate relationships between pregnancy, marriage, and sexual violence when younger than 16 years, and child sex trafficking. Adjusted odds of child sex trafficking among those who experienced pregnancy, marriage, and childhood sexual violence when younger than 16 years in combined models were 2.8 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.8, 4.3), 1.7 (95% CI = 0.99, 2.8), and 1.7 (95% CI = 1.01, 3.0), respectively, relative to others (n = 603). For 89.8%, 78.0%, and 97.0% of those who had an experience of pregnancy (n = 69), marriage (n = 50), or sexual violence (n = 33) when younger than 16 years, respectively, the experience occurred before or the same year as sex trafficking. These results provide empirical evidence of modifiable risk factors for child sex trafficking that could be integrated into the prevention efforts and protocols of health clinics and governmental agencies in Mexico currently working to reduce underage pregnancy, marriage, and sexual violence.

Agency and social constraint among victims of domestic minor sex trafficking: A method for measuring free will

Human agency has been a focus of philosophical and sociological concern from early debates about “free will” to recent themes in poststructuralism. Debates over the proper understanding of structure, agency, and constraint are hindered by the fact that few if any empirical measures of these concepts have been proposed. As sociologists have long recognized, the total results of the decisions of a group's members can be viewed as a distribution, and parameters can be fit to obtain a description of observed distributions. Here we propose the use of negative binomial curve to model population survival outcomes, and suggest that the parameters of such a curve represent reasonable surrogates for measures of agency, opportunity, and constraint when the decision process can be thought of as akin to a Bernoulli process. To provide an illustration of this approach, we discuss participation of legal minors in commercial sex (commonly referred to as victims of domestic minor sex trafficking (VDMST) or commercially sexually exploited children (CSEC)). In popular and advocacy-based accounts, considerable focus has been placed on the relative powerlessness of female VDMST. Using the proposed modeling technique, we test the extent to which male versus female VDMST appear to possess greater agency (or function under more limiting constraint) when deciding whether to remain in sex work or “leave the life”. Contrary to existing literature, our results indicate that male and female underage sex workers are experiencing similar levels of agency, and differ mainly in opportunity, and constraint. Other individual circumstances are shown to contribute to varying levels of agency and constraint among sex workers, including street work status, community trouble, drug use, and the availability of an alternative income.

Unprotected: How the Normalisation of Underage Sex Is Exposing Children and Young People to the Risk of Sexual Exploitation, Norman Wells

Unprotected: How the Normalisation of Underage Sex Is Exposing Children and Young People to the Risk of Sexual Exploitation, Norman Wells

Recognising the Human Rights of Female Sex Workers in India: Moving from Prohibition to Decriminalisation and a Pro-work Model

This article sets out a women’s human rights approach to the legal regulation of sex work developed through an analysis of feminist perspectives, international human rights standards—in particular, the approach of the Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 1979 (CEDAW)—and the voices of female sex workers within India. It categorises sex work into four legal models, namely, prohibition which criminalises all aspects of the sex trade, partial decriminalisation which criminalises only those who force women into sex work and those who trade in under-age sex workers, social control legalisation which decriminalises but regulates the sex trade with the aim of containing through (often punitive) restrictions, and finally pro-work which approaches sex work as valid employment by extending the legal and human rights of other workers to sex workers. The article places India’s current regulatory framework into the prohibition model and argues that the legal response to sex work that most closely accords with a women’s human rights approach is partial decriminalisation coupled with a pro-work model. Although the introduction of this model in India poses considerable challenges, it has the greatest capacity to first, reduce the crime and corruption that surrounds the sex trade; second, to enhance, promote and protect public health and third, provide appropriate legal and human rights protection to sex workers as international obligations require.

Demographic and lifestyle factors associated with sexual activity among adolescents in Malaysia

ABSTRACTHaving a better understanding of the factors associated with sexual behaviour among adolescents is important as it may assist government in lowering the prevalence of teen pregnancy. The objective of the present study is to examine the effects of demographic and lifestyle factors on the likelihood of engaging in sexual intercourse with a focus on Malaysian adolescents. Using a nationally representative data collected by the Ministry of Health Malaysia, the present study finds that age, self-rated academic performance, parents’ marital status, alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking can significantly affect the sexual behaviour among adolescents. The present study concludes by discussing the policy implications of these findings. As a measure towards reducing underage sex, successful policies should be targeted primarily at adolescents who aged more than 16 years self-rate their academic performance as poor, have single parents, and adopt alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking behaviours.

Consent, coercion and autonomy: Underage sex work in Aotearoa New Zealand

INTRODUCTION: Adolescents’ involvement in sex work in New Zealand has been associated with a range of adverse effects on physical, psychological, and social well-being, and is framed by domestic legislation and international obligations.AIM: The study aimed to ascertain the nature of adolescents’ experiences of sex work, and how their current and past environments impacted on their understanding of their involvement in sex work.METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were used with a sample of eight adolescents aged 16-20 who became involved with sex work between ages 12 and 16.FINDINGS: The study found that participants’ exposure to physical and sexual abuse in childhood had informed their internal working models of normative gendered behaviour. These models were then reinforced by exposure to the gendered power differential inherent in the sex work sub-culture. Participants experienced sexual experiences as being solely dictated by men, and frequently normalised transgressions against physical and/or sexual integrity.CONCLUSION: The prevalence and acceptance of gendered harm among this population group indicates the need to appropriately address vulnerable adolescents’ abuse histories, challenge restrictive conceptions of gender, and actively combat the pervasive presence of gendered violence and inequality among this population group.

Amendments to the Sexual Offences Act dealing with consensual underage sex: Implications for doctors and researchers.

In terms of the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Act, consensual sex or sexual activity with children aged 12 - 15 was a crime, and as such had to be reported to the police. This was challenged in court in the Teddy Bear case, which held that it was unconstitutional and caused more harm than good. In June 2015, the Amendment Act was accepted by both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, and came into operation on the 3 July 2015. This article looks at the amendments to sections 15 and 16 of the Act and what the reporting obligations for medical professionals and researchers are in light of the amendments, as well as the duty to provide medical services and advice to adolescents.

Reflecting on adolescents’ evolving sexual and reproductive health rights: canvassing the opinion of social workers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

In South Africa children under the age of 18 are legal minors and considered not fully capable of acting independently. However, in certain defined circumstances the law has granted minors the capacity to act independently, including regarding their sexual and reproductive health (SRH). This study explored the perspectives and practices of 17 social workers from KwaZulu-Natal on legislation relevant to adolescents’ evolving sexual and reproductive health and rights and the decriminalisation of consensual underage sex. A key finding was that many social workers have conservative views about adolescent access to SRH advice and services and many were critical of the recent decriminalisation of underage consensual sex. In the main, social workers were concerned that adolescents lack the capacity to make SRH care decisions and that liberal laws promote underage sex rather than protect adolescents. Despite antagonistic views of SRH laws related to adolescents, many social workers felt that they are able to uphold their professional rather than personal views in their work.These findings are important given that a key barrier to adolescent access and uptake of SRH advice and services relates to concerns that they will be judged. Therefore service providers need to be regularly updated on adolescent SRH issues (including rights, laws, and policies) and be engaged in critical thinking about conflicting cultural, moral and personal judgements around adolescent sexuality. Such training should include counselling and communication skills that address issues on confidentiality, adolescents’ dignity, privacy and best interests.

Powerful Men and Boyhood Sexuality in K. Sello Duiker’s Thirteen Cents

In Southern African postcolonial discourses, sexual violation is often deployed as an allegory for either patriarchal control or racial domination. This perhaps explains the huge archive of narratives of sexual violence in the Southern African literary canon. While this archive and its scholarship mainly concentrates on the experiences of women and girls, a substantial number of texts portraying the sexual abuse of boys from the region demand that scholarly attention is paid to this phenomenon. Does contemporary South African fiction’s privileging of the sexual violation of boys suggest that boys are as vulnerable to this form of violence in moments of national crisis as are girls and women? Reading K. Sello Duiker’s Thirteen Cents1 as a portrayal of the precarious intersection of post-apartheid familial dystopia on children’s bodies—articulated through under-age prostitution—I explore how fiction intervenes successfully to spotlight the susceptibility of boys to pederasty in moments of societal crisis. Additionally, I examine how homosexual prostitution is portrayed as a tool for survival for helpless boys, on the one hand, and exhibition of patriarchal power for the men that pay to have sex with these boys, on the other. I argue that the depiction of underage sex work of some boys in South African cities can help rescue these victims from being perceived as mere statistical footnotes to Southern African inequities and patriarchal power.