被禁止的性行為與性暴力

成人與兒童的性接觸: 定義 2

當我們考慮到個體在什麼年齡才有同意發生性交的法定允諾能力時，這件事情甚至變得更為複雜了。在不同的國家，這個“允諾年齡（age of consent）”是不相同的，從13周歲（西班牙）到20周歲（突尼斯）不等。此外，對於不同形式的性接觸以及區分異性和同性性活動（在許多國家完全違法，甚至對成人也是違法。）方面，有些允諾的許可權設定了不同的年齡限制。對於商業化的性接觸與非商業化的性接觸的限制，也可能不相同，對前者限定的最低年齡要高於後者的最低年齡。不過，無論怎樣定義發生性接觸的允諾年齡，與“低於法定年齡（under age）”的女性和男性的性接觸就是犯罪行為。[在日常生活語言裏，人們有時把這樣的性接觸說成是“與未成年人的性行為（sex with a minor）”，而且這可能讓人產生誤解。嚴格地說，“未成年人”是指尚未達到成人期的個體，而進入法定成人期的年齡通常比“允諾年齡”要大。]至少，由低於法定允諾年齡的個人給予的允諾在法律上是無效的，並且以這樣的允諾所發生的性接觸等同於“法定強姦（statutory rape）”[1]，即由法律條令裁定的強姦。

最後要說的是，在法律和公眾觀點之間常常有極大的差異。在一些國家，普通大眾認為法定年齡限制過於嚴苛和不切實際。其結果是，在這些國家，人們出於道德良心而不會理睬這些法定的年齡限制條款。而在其它的國家，人們發現法律過於寬鬆。常常的情形是，大多數公民甚至並不知曉有這樣的法律條款存在，而且也罕有或選擇性地強制執行的。

簡而言之，像我們這樣一門概要性的導論課程，不可能對這個非常龐大的議題做出詳盡的闡釋，而且只好對一些基本的觀察研究資料進行一般性的討論。

Prohibited Sexual Behavior and Sexual Violence

Adult Sexual Contact with Children: Definitions 2

The matter becomes even more complicated when one considers the age at which an individual becomes legally competent to agree to sexual intercourse. This “age of consent” is different in different countries. It ranges from 13 (in Spain) to 20 (in Tunisia). Moreover, some jurisdictions establish different age limits for different forms of sexual contact and also differentiate between heterosexual and homosexual activity (completely illegal in many countries, even for adults). There may also be a higher minimum age for commercial than for non-commercial sex. However, no matter how the age of consent is defined, sexual contact with a female or male “under age” is a crime. (In everyday language, people sometimes refer to such contact as “sex with a minor”, and this can be confusing. Strictly speaking, a “minor” is an individual who has not yet reached adulthood, but the age of entering legal adulthood is usually higher than the “age of consent”.) At any rate, consent given by someone under the age of consent is legally invalid, and the contact therefore amounts to “statutory rape”, i.e. rape as defined by legal statute.
Finally, there is often a great discrepancy between the law and public opinion. In some countries the general population regards the legal age limits as too strict and unrealistic. As a result, people ignore them in good conscience. In other countries, people find the laws too lenient. Often, they are even unknown to most citizens and are only rarely or selectively enforced.
In short, a general introductory course like this one cannot go into every detail of this very large topic and has to restrict itself to some general observations.