Philippines Raises Sex Consent Age from 12 to 16
Under the gender-neutral bill, any adult engaging in sexual contact with anyone 16 or under would be committing statutory rape.
Landwebs
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a bill that raises the minimum age of sexual consent, one of the world’s lowest behind Nigeria, from 12 to 16, in a bid to protect minors from rape and sexual abuse, reports Reuters. Under the bill endorsed by Duterte, which is gender-neutral, any adult engaging in sexual contact with anyone 16 or under would be committing statutory rape, unless the age difference between them was three years or less and sex was proven to be consensual, and neither abusive nor exploitative. A joint 2015 study by UNICEF and the Center for Women’s Resources, a local non-governmental group, showed seven of 10 rape victims in the Philippines were children. One in five respondents age 13 to 17 reported experiencing sexual violence, while one in 25 experienced forced consummated sex during childhood.
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