Norwegians criticise proposal about sexual consent of children
Lesson at school about consent for sexual activities. In Norway, one must be at least 16 for his or her consent to be valid. Photo ANP, Jeroen Jumelet
Northern Europe
The Norwegian government is working on a proposal to lower the age for sexual consent. However, not everyone is happy with that plan.
A clear majority of Norwegian children are against lowering the age of consent. A survey shows that 70 per cent believes that the bill should be scrapped, Vart Land writes.
Currently, Norwegian law specifies that children must be 16 years old before they can give sexual consent. However, the Criminal Law Council, also called the Sexual Offenses Committee, advises this age to be lowered to 15. According to the Council, this change will strengthen the sexual self-determination of both adults and children.
Statement
However, Norwegian children indicate that they do not want a lower age for sexual consent. This was shown by a survey from research institute Ipsos on behalf of the organisation Save the Children. In total, 880 children between 12 and 19 participated. In total, 77 per cent of the girls want the age for sexual consent to remain the same, while 63 per cent of the boys share this opinion.
"As far as we can see, the committee has not asked children and young people what they themselves think. There is also nothing in their statement that they have been in contact with children's and youth organisations", Monica Sydgård, head of the Norway program in Save the Children says to Vart Land. She strongly believes that the government should consider this survey when considering the age of sexual consent.
The minimum age is there to protect children against sexual abuse by adults, Sydgård points out. And "when there is a large majority of children and young people who do not want it to be abolished, they must listen to them", she says. The latter is also confirmed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Norwegian Constitution, which read that "children and young people must be heard when decisions affecting them are made", the chair of Save the Children Norway adds.
Hormones
Why should people in their forties decide that children do not have to be sixteen to be able to give sexual consent if the minors themselves don't want the measure? That is the question the Norwegian priest Åste Dokka asks in an opinion article in Vart Land. It is not the case that young people themselves think it is a good idea to release their hormones, she writes, referring to the survey of Save the Children that was mentioned above. "On the contrary, it is a government committee made up of grown people who will lure them into temptation. […] Grown people who would like young people to have sex? It is a little too similar to other situations we would very, very much like to avoid."
According to Dokka, the amendment would only help adults wanting sex with young people. She points out that this will become problematic when convicting sex offenders. "All too often, the court has to refrain from a conviction because the case gets bogged down with the words: "She wanted it herself!" And currently, the latter statement does not make a difference as long as one party has been under the age of 16, regardless of consent. However, if the age of consent is lowered, more victims won't have this option.
Mature
Dokka worries that conversations about sex ignore the fact that it is not something confectionary for coffee. Instead, sexual activities can lead to unwanted pregnancies or transmitted diseases, consequences "that you should preferably be mature enough to handle."
In addition, sexual intercourse can have large emotional consequences if you are not mature enough, Dokka writes. "Even if both uttered the word "yes" in the heat of the bed."
Therefore, she pleads for a "no" to lowering the age of consent because it will help young people say no when they need to. "Then most of them will live for many years where they can say yes enthusiastically when ready."
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