Under the revised law, signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday and released on Monday, sexual relations with anyone under the age of 16 are illegal and carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. MANILA – President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has signed a law raising the age of sexual consent from 12 to 16. The Philippines on Monday raised the age of sexual consent from 12 to 16 as President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed the amendment to the Special Protection of Children from Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act. The Philippines has so far had one of the lowest minimum ages of sexual consent in the world, behind Nigeria`s age of 11, according to the United Nations Children`s Fund (UNICEF). The previous minimum age of 12 for sexual consent in the Philippines was the lowest in Asia and one of the lowest in the world. While raising the age of consent brings many cases of sexual abuse into the realm of crime, a UNICEF guidance note also argues that 12 is “too low” for consent because the child “barely got through puberty.” “The part of a child`s brain that processes their understanding of the consequences of their decisions has not evolved at age 12 and continues to evolve at age 18. Therefore, setting the age of sexual consent at 12 contradicts scientific findings on brain development, as well as physical and emotional maturity,” the document reads. Under Philippine law, children as young as 12 can consent to sexual relations. Activists are trying to change the fact that the highest age of consent in Bahrain is 21, while South Korea has set it at 20.
Children`s rights activists have been pushing for decades to raise the age of consent, but stubborn social norms in this deeply religious country, where abortion and divorce are illegal, have thwarted their efforts. The Philippine Senate voted 22 votes in favor, 0 against and 1 abstention in favor of the bill. If the bill is signed, Senate Bill No. 2332, colloquially known as the End Child Rape Bill, will amend Republic Act No. 8353 of 1997, also known as the Rape Act of 1997, to raise the age of sexual consent. The bill would also change the legal age of rape in the country from 12 to 16. Victims` advocates also argue that lowering the age of consent has contributed to what international human rights organizations have described as high levels of sex trafficking and teenage pregnancy in the Philippines, compounded by gaps in enforcement of existing laws. “We welcome this legal development and hope it will help protect young girls from rape and sexual abuse,” said Josalee Deinla, spokesperson for the National Union of People`s Advocates, which provides legal aid to poor and marginalized people in the Philippines. The Catholic-majority nation had one of the lowest ages of consent in the world and allowed adults to have sex with children as young as 12 if they consented. While several reports indicate that the age of consent in Nigeria is 11, according to the Child Rights Act 2003, “no one is allowed to have sexual intercourse with a child.” The law further states that a person will be charged with a crime of rape if he or she does so, and “it does not matter whether the perpetrator believed that the person is eighteen years of age or older.” In fact, the age of consensual sex becomes 18.
Back to international list of age of consent Age of consent in the United States According to the World Population Review, the age of consent in Japan is 13, the age of consent is 14 like China, Germany, Italy and Brazil. In the United States, the age of consent is determined individually by states and ranges from 16 to 18. The UK also has 16 as the age of consent. When introduced in the House of Representatives, the Philippine Age of Consent Amendment Bill concluded that UNICEF “does not match the international average” of the age of consent in the country. In most countries, the age of consent is 16. With the Philippines` new law, Angola`s age of consent remains lowest at 12. But as of Monday, the law hadn`t been changed in 91 years. Factors included a lack of education and understanding among legislators and the public of concepts such as children`s cognitive development and the ability to give informed consent, UNICEF Philippines Child Protection Officer Patrizia Benvenuti said in 2021. The Philippines has raised the age of sexual consent to 16 after amending a nearly century-old law, a move that child rights activists say would help protect teens from rape and abuse on Monday. MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law raising the minimum age of sexual consent from 12 to 16, his office said Monday, to protect minors from rape and sexual abuse.
For years, activists had called on the government to raise the age of consent in the Catholic-dominated Philippines. On Monday, he had one of the lowest ages of consent in the world, with about one in five children experiencing sexual abuse. This is in line with the “Romeo and Juliet laws” that have been enforced in several countries to avoid consensual sex between teenagers. For example, in the state of Ohio in the United States, despite the age of consent of 16, consensual sexual relations between people 13 years of age and older with a partner under 18 years of age are considered legal. Even in France, where the age of consent is 15, consensual sexual relations between a minor and a partner for up to five years longer are allowed. MANILA, Philippines (AP) — President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a measure that raises the age of sexual consent to 16, meaning that any adult engaged in sexual activity with a minor under the age of 16 is automatically guilty of rape. In the Philippines, activists have been pushing to raise the age of consent since the 1980s. The previous law protected predators, critics say, because they can claim victims consented — and children as young as 12 can often be forced or threatened to remain silent. The Philippines has no age restriction. Narrow age exceptions, commonly referred to in the United States as the “Romeo and Juliet Acts,” are introduced to prevent the prosecution of people engaged in consensual sexual activity when the two participants are very close at an advanced age and one or both partners have not reached the age of consent. The Philippine Senate voted unanimously Monday in third reading for a bill that will raise the age of sexual consent in the country to 16. The age at which a person in the Philippines can consent to sexual relations under current law is 12.
“The United Nations has long been concerned about the alarming age of sexual consent in the Philippines,” Gustavo González, the UN`s humanitarian coordinator and coordinator, said in a statement issued in July 2021. With these changes, Philippine laws against sexual assault will better reflect international standards, where 16 is generally accepted as the age at which a person can consent to sexual relations. It provides equal protection for boys and girls and requires the Ministry of Education to include “age-appropriate” courses on children`s rights in primary school curricula. Last year, the country`s House of Representatives passed a similar bill, House Bill (HB) No. 7839. Before becoming a binding law, the two laws must be combined into one and signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte. Last year, the United Nations (UN) Philippines urged Congress to urgently raise the age of rape from under 12 to under 16. The AP news agency also documented a “culture of cover-up and silence” about sexual abuse in churches.
In a country with about 80 to 85 percent Catholics, an archbishop estimated in 2002 at a national bishops` conference that 200 of the Philippines` 7,000 priests “may have committed some form of sexual impropriety.” In fact, President Duterte also claimed that he was sexually abused by a bishop when he was a child. In 2013, a Manila cardinal was quoted as saying, “In Asian cultures, it is often preferable for such cases to be dealt with calmly within the Church,” AP reported, adding that persecution of priests is “extremely rare.” On the other hand, non-exploitation means that there is no real or attempted act or action that unfairly exploits the child`s position of vulnerability, different power or trust during sexual activity. “I welcome it, but I am cynical about whether it will lead to implementation,” said Junice Melgar, director of the Likhaan Center for Women`s Health. The law raised the age for determining rape to 16 to better protect young people from sexual exploitation and abuse. Hong Kong`s two largest completed IPOs in 2022, worth a total of $1.5 billion, closed in the red when they debuted on Thursday, easing prospects for a resumption of sales of new shares in the city for the rest of the year. The Philippine rape law is violated when a person has consensual sexual relations with a person under the age of 12.
