The Age of Consent Young People, Sexuality

This book analyzes the development of age of consent laws in the UK from the nineteenth century to the present, in international perspective. The analysis, informed by contemporary perspectives in social theory on gender, sexuality, youth and childhood, focuses upon changing understandings of citizenship embodied in the law.

Matthew Waites is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Sheffield Hallam University.

Acknowledgements

vii

1 Introduction

1

(10)

Outline of chapters

6

(5)

2 Theorising Age of Consent Laws

11

(29)

Childhood and youth

11

(3)

Gender and sexuality; heterosexuality and homosexuality

14

(4)

The meaning of consent

18

(6)

Children, sexuality, consent and the law

24

(4)

Consent and children's sexual behaviour

28

(2)

The rationale for age of consent laws

30

(2)

Citizenship

32

(3)

Sexual citizenship

35

(4)

Conclusion

39

(1)

3 Age of Consent Laws in Global Perspective

40

(20)

The globalization of age of consent debates

40

(4)

Age of consent laws in comparative cross-national perspective

44

(9)

Sex tourism and the transnational extension of sex offences

53

(2)

International law and human rights

55

(4)

Conclusion

59

(1)

4 Heterosexuality and the Age of Consent

60

(28)

The origins of law on sex and childhood in the UK

60

(7)

Social purity and the age of consent in the late nineteenth century

67

(4)

Gender, class, competence and citizenship

71

(3)

Parliamentary debates

74

(3)

The age of protection

77

(3)

The regulation of male homosexuality

80

(6)

Conclusion

86

(2)

5 Homosexuality and the Age of Consent

88

(31)

Lesbianism and the age of consent in the inter-war years

88

(8)

The Wolfenden Report and the decriminalisation of male homosexuality

96

(8)

Rethinking the Wolfenden Report's rationale for decriminalisation

104

(10)

The male homosexual age of consent

114

(3)

Conclusion

117

(2)

6 Sexual Liberationism and the Search for New Sexual Knowledge

119

(39)

New social movements and epistemological transformations

119

(4)

Gay liberation: Liberty, equality and the age of consent

123

(8)

From the margins to the mainstream: Emerging challenges

131

(2)

The Policy Advisory Committee on Sexual Offences

133

(6)

Heterosexuality and the age of consent to sexual intercourse

139

(6)

Homosexuality

145

(10)

Conclusion

155

(3)

7 Equality at Last? Age of Consent Debates in the 1990's

158

(25)

Age of consent debates 1993-2000: An overview

159

(3)

Legal developments: Childhood and consent

162

(4)

The emergence of a new hegemony in age of consent debates

166

(4)

Political discourses

170

(2)

Legal discourses

172

(1)

Social policy, health and young people's welfare

173

(1)

Biomedical knowledge of sexual identity and psychological development

174

(6)

Conclusion

180

(3)

8 New Age of Consent Laws: Adulthood and Childhood

183

(25)

The Home Office review of sex offences

184

(4)

'Adult sexual abuse of a child'

188

(9)

'Child sex offences committed by children or young persons'

197

(6)

Consent in the Sexual Offences Act 2003

203

(1)

Conclusion

204

(4)

9 Rethinking the Age of Consent

208

(34)

The history of age of consent laws in the UK

209

(3)

The contemporary context

212

(3)

Young people's views of age of consent laws

215

(2)

Citizenship, sexuality and childhood

217

(3)

Libertarian and liberal critiques of age of consent laws

220

(7)

Youth justice

227

(2)

Consent and vulnerability

229

(6)

A proposal for reform of the age of consent

235

(7)

Notes

242

(5)

Bibliography

247

(25)

Index

272

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The Age of Consent Young People, Sexuality and Citizenship

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials