The age of consent is the minimum age at which someone is legally old enough to agree to sexual activity. These laws exist to protect young people from being taken advantage of by older, more experienced individuals who might manipulate or pressure them into situations they aren’t emotionally or mentally ready for.
A study in 1995 by Landry and Forrest found that men over 20 fathered half of all pregnancies involving girls aged 15 to 17. In response, many states started enforcing statutory rape laws more strictly to discourage older men from getting involved with teenage girls, although, there remained a few exceptions to the age of consent.
The Age of Consent Varies Across the U.S.
As of August 2018, the age of consent in the U.S. is either 16, 17, or 18, depending on the state. The most common legal age of consent is 16, which is the law in 31 states. Seven states set the age at 17, and twelve states have the strictest rules, setting it at 18.
Wikipedia has a full list of the age of consent across all 50 states in the US.
What Happens if Someone Breaks the Law?
If an adult engages in sexual activity with someone under the legal age of consent, it’s usually considered a crime known as statutory rape (though not all states use this exact term). This means that even if the younger person says they agreed to it, the law doesn’t see them as being able to legally give consent.
However, not all states use the term “statutory rape.” Instead, different states might label these crimes as sexual misconduct, carnal knowledge of a minor, child molestation, corruption of a minor, or unlawful carnal knowledge.
For example, in Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Tennessee, the law specifically refers to statutory rape. Meanwhile, in Nevada and Pennsylvania, it’s called statutory sexual seduction or statutory sexual assault.
Exceptions for Close-in-Age Couples
One major issue with age of consent laws is that they don’t just apply to relationships between minors and adults; they can also criminalize teenage couples who are close in age. Imagine two teenagers, aged 16 and 17, dating each other.
In some states, if one of them is below the legal age of consent and the other is just slightly older, the older teen could technically be charged with a crime.
To prevent unfair punishments for young couples, 30 states have what’s called Romeo and Juliet laws. These laws provide legal exceptions for couples who are close in age. Depending on the state, they may completely prevent criminal charges or at least reduce the severity of penalties.
How Age of Consent Laws Have Changed Over Time
It might be shocking, but back in 1880, the age of consent in most states was just 10 or 12 years old, and in Delaware, it was only 7 years old. This meant that girls at incredibly young ages could be legally married off or sexually involved with much older men.
These laws were eventually changed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as society began to recognize the need for stronger protections for young people.
By 1920, 26 states had raised the age of consent to 16, 21 states set it at 18, and Georgia was the only state to keep it at 14. The last two states to update their laws were Georgia (1995) and Hawaii (2001), both raising their age of consent to 16.
Originally, these laws were mostly aimed at men engaging in relationships with younger women. In fact, for a long time, many states required that the female be of chaste character, meaning she had to be a virgin, for statutory rape charges to apply.
This requirement was finally removed in 1998, when Mississippi became the last state to eliminate the chastity condition.