The age of consent is called the “legal age for sexual activity” and must be chosen by states at the age they deem appropriate. (No specific age is recommended.) In February 2021, the Convention was ratified by all Council of Europe states. [2] Male homosexual acts have been decriminalised in Gibraltar since 1993, when the age of consent was higher at 18 for gays and 16 for lesbians and heterosexuals. Anal sex was still illegal for heterosexuals. The equal age of consent at 16 and the legalization of heterosexual intercourse occurred due to a Supreme Court decision in 2011. [158] In 2011, the Non-Gender-Based Crimes Act 2011 introduced an equal and neutral age of consent of 16 and legalized anal sex for heterosexuals – reflecting the Gibraltar Supreme Court decision and repealing and updating Gibraltar`s 140-year-old criminal laws. [157] Until 1992, male homosexual acts were illegal under Article 124.1 of the Latvian Criminal Code. This provision was repealed by the Latvian Parliament in 1992 and the age of consent for male homosexual acts was set at 18 years. In 1998, the Latvian Parliament adopted a new Criminal Code containing a complex system of sexual offences: the age of consent for all sexual acts, except vaginal intercourse, was 14 years; For vaginal sex, there were 16 (with a near-age exemption that allowed 14- and 15-year-olds to have sex with someone under 18). In 2001, the law was amended to clarify the situation and confirm that the age of consent for all acts was 16 (only a person aged 18 and over can be punished for having sexual intercourse with a young person between the ages of 14 and 15). 1. Anyone who is of age and performs an important sexual act between the ages of 14 and 16 or has it performed by him with others, abusing his inexperience, is liable to imprisonment for up to 2 years.
Male homosexuality was illegal under Article 175, regardless of age since 1872. Female homosexuality has not been prosecuted. In West Germany, male homosexuality was legalized in 1969. The age of consent was set at 21 and lowered to 18 in 1975. Only men over the age of 18 may be delinquents and the courts may refrain from punishing if the offender is not yet 21 years of age. In the GDR, the penal code was supplemented in 1957 by a provision that allowed prosecution to be waived if socialist society had not been harmed by the illegal act. With regard to article 175, this means that male homosexual acts are prosecuted only if they concern minors, i.e. persons under the age of 18. The new Penal Code of 1968 officially legalized homosexuality and criminalized only homosexual acts committed by adults with minors in Article 151, which is now gender-neutral. In 1987, the GDR Supreme Court ruled that homosexuality, like heterosexuality, was a variant of sexual behavior. In 1989, section 151 was repealed and section 149 amended to include any sexual orientation.
In the wording of the law, there is no discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. However, discrimination may result from selective application on a case-by-case basis. “This may therefore lead to a higher incidence of cases where the minor and the offender are of the same sex, as there may be parents who would not prosecute if their 17-year-old child has sexual relations with another person of the opposite sex, but would do so if the person is of the same sex.” [74] Prior to 1990, sodomy was illegal for both men and women in Jersey until 1990, although the age of consent for homosexual acts other than sodomy is the same as for heterosexual acts. In 1990, the age of consent to sodomy between consenting men was set at 21 (the United Kingdom then maintained the age of consent at 21 for all homosexual acts between men). [165] In 1995, the age of was set at 18 (under the Sexual Offences (Jersey) Act 1995). In 2007, the age of consent was lowered to 16, regardless of gender for all sexual acts (including bestiality); regardless of sexual orientation or gender. [166] Male homosexual acts were illegal in Scotland until 1980, when they were decriminalized by the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, section 80, which set the age of consent at 21. The Criminal Law (Codification) (Scotland) Act 1995 lowered the age of consent to 18 and the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 further reduced the age of consent to 16. Male rape has been recognised by the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 (in force since 1 December 2010, with the exception of sections 52 and 53) as well as a complete overhaul of the sexual offences legislation. [154] In 1969, Denmark was the first country to legalize pictorial pornography,[21] but this had no effect on laws regarding the age of those involved in production.
Therefore, the legal age of consent (15 years) corresponded to the limit for pornography produced in the country, but material produced in other countries (where the Danish Consent Act does not apply) was not covered and therefore legal. In 1980, it became illegal to sell, distribute or possess pornography with children under the age of 15, regardless of their country of origin (Danish Criminal Code, § 235). [22] The limit was later changed to 18, which is now the applicable law, although it remains legal for a person over the age of 15 to take their own nude photos as long as they are only shared with friends (for example, with a boyfriend or girlfriend), the recipient has been given the explicit right to possess them, and they are no longer shared or disseminated. [22] In the period between the legalization of pornography and the 1980 amendment to the Danish Penal Code, some companies (notoriously Color Climax) took advantage of the absence of age restrictions on material produced in other countries. [23] Since September 2007, the age of consent has been formally aligned in the September 2007 Criminal Code.
