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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.
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The Age of Consent Young People, Sexuality and Citizenship
Matthew Waites
The Age of Consent
Also by Matthew Waites SEXUALITIES AND SOCIETY: A Reader (editor with J. Weeks and J. Holland)
The Age of Consent Young People, Sexuality and Citizenship Matthew Waites
© Matthew Waites 2005 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2005 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN-13: 978–1–4039–2173–4 ISBN-10: 1–4039–2173–3 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Waites, Matthew. The age of consent : young people, sexuality and citizenship / Matthew Waites. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1–4039–2173–3 1. Age of consent—Great Britain. 2. Minors—Great Britain—Sexual behavior. I. Title. KD7975.W35 2005 346.4101′35—dc22 2005040889 10 14
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Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham and Eastbourne
Contents
Acknowledgements
vii
1 Introduction Outline of chapters
1 6
2 Theorising Age of Consent Laws Childhood and youth Gender and sexuality; heterosexuality and homosexuality The meaning of consent Children, sexuality, consent and the law Consent and children’s sexual behaviour The rationale for age of consent laws Citizenship Sexual citizenship Conclusion
11 11 14 18 24 28 30 32 35 39
3 Age of Consent Laws in Global Perspective The globalization of age of consent debates Age of consent laws in comparative cross-national perspective Sex tourism and the transnational extension of sex offences International law and human rights Conclusion
40 40
4 Heterosexuality and the Age of Consent The origins of law on sex and childhood in the UK Social purity and the age of consent in the late nineteenth century Gender, class, competence and citizenship Parliamentary debates The age of protection The regulation of male homosexuality Conclusion
60 60
5 Homosexuality and the Age of Consent Lesbianism and the age of consent in the inter-war years The Wolfenden Report and the decriminali