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More: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guiana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela
Also: Alkatcho, Amahuaca, Apinayé, Araucanians, Aritama, Aymara, Bahia, Bakairí, Bororó, Canela (Eastern Timbira), Cashinahua; Cayapá, Cubeo, Embera, Guajiro, Guaraní, Guatos, Inka, Jivaro, Kagaba, Kagwahiv, Kaingángs, Kayabí, Kayapó, Kogi, Machiguenga, Mataco, Mehinaku, Mundurucu, Nambikwara, Ndyuka, Ona, Pilagá, Saramakans, Sharanahua, Shavante, Shipibo, Siriono, Tapirapé, Teheulche, Tenetehara, Ramcocramecra Timbira, Trumaí, Tukano, Tupinambá, Vaupé. See Tukano, Wai-Wai, Warao, Wari’, Xokleng, Yahgan. See Ona, Yanomamö, Yaruros, Zorcas
Current Age of Consent in Central and South America Introduction
Werner (1986), as
cited by Frayser (1994:p206-7)[1]
provided some data on the sexual climate of children in
“Xokleng children of southern
“As in the Melanesian cultures of the
Pacific, initiation, more than marriage, is indispensable in northwest Amazonia
to the transition from the asexual world of childhood to the sexual world of
adults”[2], a transition that is commonly associated
with “playful” transitional male homosexuality (cf. Murray, 1992, 1995)[3]. De Freitas et al. (1997)[4] from Among the Kulisehu, the praeputium is tucked under a waist string, so as to elongate it. This is customary. “Man hält den Jüngling zu diesem Verfahren an, wenn sie die ersten Erektionen eintreten”, according to Von den Steinen (1897:p188)[6].
An overview of sexarche figures was offered by Wulf and Singh (1991)[7].
Current
Age of Consent in Central and
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Janssen,
D. F., Growing Up Sexually.
Last revised: Oct. 2004
[1] Frayser, S. G. (1994) Defining normal childhood sexuality: An anthropological approach, Ann Rev Sex Res 5:173217
[2] Johansson, W. (1990)
[3] Murray, S. O. (1992) Sentimental
effusions of genital contact in Upper Amazonia, in Dynes, W. R. &
Donaldson, S. (Eds.) Ethnographic Studies
of Homosexuality.
[4] De
Freitas, S. et al. (1997)
[5] Quoted by Jacobus X ([1893] 1898) L’Amour aux Colonies. Paris: I. Liseux. 3 vols. 2nd & enl. English ed., Untrodden Fields of Anthropology (etc.). Paris: Librairie de Medecine, Folklore et Anthropologie. Vol. II, p444
[6] Von den Steinen, K. (1897) Unter den Naturvölkern Zentral-Brasiliens.
[7] Wulf, D. & Singh, S. (1991)
Sexual activity, union, and childbearing among adolescent women in the
[9] ECPAT International, Online Database [http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp]
[10]http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/Default.asp (Legislation of Interpol member states on sexual offences against children)
[12] Op.cit.
[13] CRLP (1997) Women of the World: Laws and
Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives:
[14] A 1999 “law created a uniform age of consent to sexual relations of 14 years, eliminating the previous age of consent differential between boys and girls. Boys are now also included in the provision against statutory rape, which had formerly only prohibited sexual intercourse with a girl under 14 years. The amendments also increased the penalties for all crimes against sexual liberty, and particularly for sexual crimes against children: sexual intercourse with a person of either sex under 14 years is punishable by 15 to 20 years imprisonment. It is legal for children above 12 years to have consensual sexual relations, but only if the age differential between the partners is less than 3 years”.
[15] “Penetrative sexual acts (including sodomy) and non-penetrative sexual acts on a child between 12 and 18 years are illegal [...]. Under the Chilean Civil Code, a minor is anyone under 18 years of age. Throughout the Civil and Penal Codes, there are distinctions between children (under 7 years), immature adults (boys under 14 and girls under 12), and adults (finished puberty). Because of these different definitions, the legal age of consent is unclear; however, for practical purposes, it appears that the age of consent to sexual relations is 12 years”.
[16] “The age of consent in
[17] “
[18] “[…] the Criminal Law Offences Act, rarely refers specifically to "children", only to "females". This legislation puts the age of consent to sexual relations at 13 years. Sexual intercourse with a person under 12 is statutory rape. If the victim is between 12 and 13, the consent of victim is a triable issue and the accused could mount a defense that he was under the belief that the victim was over 13 years of age”.
[19] “For most sexual acts, it appears
that the age of consent in
[20] “The age of consent is 15 years. Sexual intercourse with a child under this age is illegal. It is also an offense to have consensual sexual intercourse with an "honest unmarried woman" of any age above 15 years. [...] Additionally, under Uruguayan law, anyone who has sexual relations with a virgin between the ages of 15 and 20 commits statutory rape unless the offender subsequently proposes marriage. [...] There is a presumption that violence has occurred in a sexual assault if the victim is under 15 years old. However, that presumption can be rebutted with evidence if the victim is older than 12 years”.
[21] “There doesn't seem to be one specific age of consent to sexual relations. The age of consent to marriage is 14 for girls and 16 for boys. […] [An] article in the Penal Code criminalises penetrative or non-penetrative sexual acts with a person between 12 and 16 years of age”.
[22] “The legal age of consent is 21, but the Asian Marriage law, which applies to citizens of Asian descent, puts the age of consent to marriage at 13 years for girls and 14 years for boys”.
[23] “The Sexual Offences Act, 1992-93, made sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 14 a criminal offence; but the minimum legal age of consent is 16”.
[24] “There is no minimum age for sexual consent but the Family Code sets the minimum age for marriage at 14 years for girls and 16 years for boys”.
[25] “Dominican law defines children as persons up to the age of 12 and adolescents as persons aged between 13 and 18. Young women may marry from the age of 15 and young men from the age of 16. There is so far no legislation on the age of sexual consent”.
[26] “The age of legal consent for sexual activities is sixteen years and the age of marriage is 18. […] Article 40 of the Penal Code prohibits aggravated assaults on women or children. Under Article 44 carnally knowing, or attempting to carnally know, a girl under twelve is an offence. Article 50 makes it a misdemeanour to have carnal knowledge with a child above 12 but under 16. Article 53 addresses indecent assault on a girl under 16”.
[27] “The age of marriage varies depending on religious background. Under the Hindu Marriage Act, a girl may marry at age 14 and a boy at 18. Under the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act a girl may marry at 12 and a boy at 16 whilst under the common law, the ages of marriage are 12 for a girl and 14 for a boy. Parental consent is required for all marriages of minors except in respect of a Hindu girl who has attained the age of 16. Under section 6 of the Sexual Offences Act (1986), it is an offence for a male to have sexual intercourse with a female under the age of 14 years. This is punishable by life imprisonment”.
[28] Abendanon, J. H. (1923) Het oud Spaansch koloniaal stelsel […], Bijdragen Taal-, Land-, & Volkenk Nederlansch-Indie [Holland] 79:73-197, at p117
[29] Sumner, W. G. (1906) Folkways.
[30] Apparently citing Schomburgk, M.
R., Travels in
[31] Métraux, A. (1948) The Guarani.
[32] Cooper, J. M. (1946) The Ona.
[33] Price, P. R. (1975) Saramaka Social Structure: Analysis of a
Maroon Society in
[34] Heinen, H. D. ([1988]) Oko Warao: Marshland People of the
[35] Cit. infra
[36] Pim, B. & Seeman, B. (1869) Dotting on the Roadside, Panama, Nicaragua and Mosquito. London, p306-7. See also Esquemeling, J. (1893) The Buccaneers of America. Edited by H. Powell. London, p253; Conzemius (1932) Ethnographical Surveu of the Miskito and Sumu Indians of Honduras and Nicaragua. Washington: Governmental Printing Office, p145, 147; Moravian Church (1898) Rules and Regulations of the Moskito Mission Province […]. Hernhut, p22
[37] Helms, M. W. (1971) Asang. Gainesville: University of Florida Press
[38] Becker-Donner, E. (?) Notizen über einige Stämme an den rechten Zuflüssen des Rio Guaporé, Archiv Völkerk, 275-343
[39] Levak, Z. D. (1973) Kinship System and Social Structure of the
Bororo of Pobojari. Dissertation,