Age of Sexual
Consent Raised to 16
Years
of work by many Canadians, both inside
and outside of
government, to raise the age of sexual
consent from 14
to 16 years have ended in victory.
As
the Winnipeg Free Press
reported, the federal
government’s omnibus crime bill, Bill C-2,
received royal assent
one day after it passed the Senate. One of the provisions in the bill
was a
boost in the age of consent.
“Common
sense has prevailed,” Roz Prober, co-founder of the Winnipeg-based
children’s
rights group Beyond Borders, told the Free
Press.
“People were stunned to see
For
most western nations, the age of consent varies between 16 and 18 years
of age.
But
although C-2 had received all-party support in the House of Commons in
November, many senators had qualms about the bill. In the end, the bill passed only
narrowly by a vote of
19-16, Canadian Press reported.
In all, 31
senators abstained and 27 others were absent for the vote.
“The
last time the age of consent was changed was in 1892, when it was
raised from
12 to 14,” Free Press columnist Lindor Reynolds noted.
“Shame
on us for spending several generations not doing enough
to protect our kids and their innocence.”
Reynolds added: “Everyone who worked to raise the age of sexual consent deserves a round of applause. Clapping most enthusiastically should be the parents of young teenagers who will be safe from legal predators for a couple of more years.”
