Canadian conservatives to raise age of consent to 16

[nelson]

Canada's Conservatives Seek to Raise Age of Consent to 16
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,200691,00.html

Associated Press, June 23 2006

OTTAWA — Canada's ruling conservatives have moved to raise the age of sexual consent by two years to 16, saying children need better protection from adult predators in an Internet era.

The bill introduced Thursday by Justice Minister Vic Toews would mark the first time the age has been changed since it was set at 14 more than a century ago.

"We are committed to protecting our most vulnerable citizens," Toews told a news conference.

"More and more, ordinary Canadians are concerned about the growing problem of child sexual predators, especially in the Internet age. They have looked to this government to take whatever steps it can to address the issue."

The legislation includes a so-called near-age exemption of five years so that, for example, a 14-year-old could still have a sexual partner aged up to 19, and a 15-year-old could have a partner aged up to 20.

Toews said the proposed law is a sound way to target older adults.

Supporters say the measure would help police deal with pimps, Internet predators and international sex tourists.

Critics said the bill was a gift to far-right Tory supporters that will drive young lovers underground. They also contended it would do nothing to bolster already existing laws that prohibit sexual exploitation of children.

"It's politics," said Hilary Cook, a lawyer and spokeswoman for the gay rights group Egale.

[Teiwaz]

14 is too low to start with.

[Freethinker]

16 is still too low. But there are guys in Trailer Parks thinking to themselves "If they Drive, they're fair game." That Just ain't right.

[Teiwaz]

I know. It seems so low. I have a daughter. But any higher, and assuming it is for boys and girls, and you really create an artificial situation, and an unrealistic one too.

[Sonrisa]

I don't think any predators, trailer park or otherwise, perverted creeps that they are are going to concern themselves with how old someone is and what the age limit is. It has been proven time and again they have total disregard for the law. A 16 year old girl, like it or not, is as much a woman as an 18 year old. A 16 year old boy, on the other hand, is more like a 13 or 14 year old. Girls mature faster. They are not really adults in the true sense of the word, but neither are most 18 year olds. It varies from kid to kid.

One thing I love about the Canadians is they tend to me more "real" about sexuality. Better education for teenagers about predators (we had them before the Internet) would be a lot more helpful. Speaking from my own experience, if parents would talk to their teenagers instead of screaming at them and betraying their trust, maybe the kids would talk to them more.

Unless parents have changed totally since I was a kid, most of them are more concerned with "what the neighbors think" than what is actually going on. When those predators are caught, execution or incarceration for life works for me, since they have pretty much proven that pedophilia is not curable, at least up to this date.

I was molested at 9 by a neighbor and at 12 by a friend of my mother's and both time was told to shut up, and that I was "imagining it". The man who molested me at age 9 was later caught molesting a 6 year old who was half dead. The solution (we were in Panama Canal Zone, under US jurisdiction where they had a penitentiary) was to deport him back to the US. I have never forgiven my parents (my Dad was a cop) for that, and I have never understood their reasoning either.

I really feel for teenagers, it is such a hard age to be. They need all the help and understanding they can get. Passing legislation that will drive them underground is not a solution.

Sonrisa