BUACA Research Child Abuse ........ - Recently Updated Pages

Research Child Abuse Home

BUACA — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:32:57 CDT

Does it really matter if we know about why who where or when children are abused but more that we as members of our community teach others to understand child abuse and be aware of it, sometimes it never touches a family but as we experiance all the time more than likely every family in Australia has been touched with child abuse of some form.....It is part of our mission to teach and advise parents and children what child abuse is....

A Child Abuse Educational Website
~Resource, Information & Educational Purposes Only~

We are here to try and provide as much up-to-date information as possible.
Here you will be able to download reports, research papers, documents, and all other informative
information that may help in the field of Child Abuse.

We will endeavor to post all relevant information to all topics that deal in the field of child abuse, and survivors.
We will have ideas ranging from therapists that have been recommended, different outreach programs
and all aspects of community outreach for the field of abuse and surviving it.

Please feel free to comment or to send me anything that may help others in their research on child abuse, be assured I am in contact with most Australian
child protection advocates and any additional information would be greatly appreciated......

It's not who you are,

It's not how you look,
It's not where you've been,
It's not what you've seen,
It's how you care,
It's how you share,
It's showing that all our children are precious.
ALL CHILDREN SHOULD BE SAFE,
AND IT'S UP TO ALL OF US,
TO MAKE IT THAT PLACE.

~Written by Briannha~

Cyber Stalking and The Bully.....

BUACA — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 08:32:50 CDT

BUACA BIKERS UNITED AGAINST CHILD ABUSE

CYBER STALKING CAUSES CHILD ABUSE
CYBER STALKING IS CHILD ABUSE

BUACA understands that cyber bullying has emerged as the abuse ofDECADE and the pain it causes can and does drive vulnerable children to be exposed to
adults abusing children for the sake of enjoying people being hurt.

We have had to deal many times with child abusers who feel they have the right to attack those
that do help families overcome child abuse and have seen first hand the damage it does...

What happens with cyberbullying?

A lot of people can view or take part in it
It is often done in secret with the bully hiding who they are by creating false profiles or names, or sending anonymous messages
It is difficult to remove as it is shared online so it can be recorded and saved in different places
It is hard for the person being bullying to escape if they use technology often
The content (photos, texts, videos) can be shared with a lot of people
This content may also be easy to find by searching on a web browser like Google.

What does cyberbullying look like?

Being sent mean or hurtful text messages from someone you know or even someone you don’t know
Getting nasty, threatening or hurtful messages through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, or through sites where people can ask / answer questions like Formspring or Internet forums
People sending photos and videos of you to others to try and embarrass or hurt you
People spreading rumours about you via emails or social networking sites or text messages
People trying to stop you from communicating with others
People stealing your passwords or getting into your accounts and changing the information there
People setting up fake profiles pretending to be you, or posting messages or status updates from your accounts

Feelings you may be having if you are being bullied

Feeling guilty like it is your fault
Feeling hopeless and stuck like you can’t get out of the situation
Feeling alone, like there is no one to help you
Feeling like you don’t fit in with the cool group
Feeling depressed and rejected by your friends and other groups of people
Feeling unsafe and afraid
Feeling confused and stressed out wondering what to do and why this is happening to you
Feeling ashamed that this is happening to you

Being safe from bullies online:

Do not share your private information like passwords, name and address, phone numbers with people you don’t know. This can also include sharing of photos of yourself, your friends and your family
Don’t respond to messages when you are angry or hurt - either to strangers and also to people you know. This will often encourage them to continue or increase their harassment of you
Log out and stop messaging if you feel you are being harassed
Remember you have the option to block, delete and report anyone who is harassing you online and on your mobile
Find out how to report bullying and harassment on each of the different social networks that you use
Keep a record of calls, messages, posts and emails that may be hurtful or harmful to you
Remember to set up the privacy options on your social networking sites like Facebook in a way you are comfortable with

It is important to know that each state and territory in Australia has different laws for Bullying. Lawstuff provides legal information to
children and young people in Australia

To find out about cyberbullying and how to get help you can also go to the

Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) Cybersmart Progr

GETTING HELP

If you have been bullied or witnessed others been bullied and need help contact:

Kids Help Line (1800 55 1800) is a free and confidential, telephone counseling service for 5 to 25 year olds in Australia. http://www.kidshelp.com.au

Lifeline (13 11 14) is a free and confidential service staffed by trained telephone counsellors. http://www.lifeline.org.au

http://www.health.qld.gov.au/mentalhealth/default.asp

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/cyberbullying_teenagers.html

http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/1/9/6/%7B196C613C-E600-4592-9530-31DB7F4BA95F%7Drip09.pdf

REPORTING OF CHILD ABUSE

BUACA — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:13:30 CDT

REPORTING OF CHILD ABUSE

AUSTRALIA

Resource Sheet No.3

Updated February 2009

Mandatory reporting of child abuse

Compiled by Daryl Higgins, Leah Bromfield, Nick Richardson, Prue Holzer and Claire Berlyn Published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies ISSN 1448-9112 (Online) You can access this resource sheet in HTML or PDF(135KB) format. You will need an Acrobat Reader which is free from the Adobe Systems Web site .

This resource sheet examines legal provisions requiring specified people to report supsected child maltreatment to statutory child protection services in Australia.

What is mandatory reporting?

The legal requirement to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect is known as mandatory reporting. All jurisdictions possess mandatory reporting requirements of some description. However, the people mandated to report and the abuse types for which it is mandatory to report vary across Australian states and territories.

Who is mandated to make a notification?

The groups of people mandated to notify their concerns, suspicions or beliefs to the appropriate statutory child protection authority range from a limited number of specified persons in specified contexts (Western Australia, Queensland) through to every adult (Northern Territory).

The relevant Acts and Regulations in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia contain lists of particular occupations that are mandated to report. Some states have a limited number of occupations listed, such as Queensland (doctors, departmental officers, and employees of licensed residential care services) and Victoria (police, doctors, nurses and teachers).

Other jurisdictions have more extensive lists (Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, Tasmania) or use generic descriptions such as "professionals working with children". Many commentators have suggested that Western Australia is the only Australian jurisdiction without mandatory reporting requirements. However, Western Australia does possess targeted legislative requirements for the reporting of child abuse.

Court personnel, counsellors and mediators are required to report allegations or suspicions of child abuse in Family Court cases, and licensed providers of child care or outside-school-hours care services are required to report abuse in a child care service. The proclamation of the Children and Community Services Amendment (Reporting Sexual Abuse of Children) Act 2008 (WA) will extend mandatory reporting requirements in Western Australia to doctors, nurses, midwives, police officers and teachers in circumstances where they have reasonable grounds to believe that a child has been the subject of sexual abuse or is the subject of ongoing sexual abuse.

Table 1 provides an overview of who is legally mandated to report suspected child maltreatm

t to statutory child protection services in each state and territory. Table 1: Mandatory

reporting requirements across Australia

Notes: * Section 67ZA of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) applies to all states and territories. In addition to state and territory law, there are provisions within Commonwealth legislation that relate to mandatory reporting. Under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), personnel from the Family Court of Australia, the Federal Magistrates Court and the Family Court of Western Australia also have mandatory reporting obligations. This includes registrars, family counsellors, family dispute resolution practitioners or arbitrators, and lawyers independently representing children's interests.

Section 67ZA states that when in the course of performing duties or functions, or exercising powers, the above court personnel have reasonable grounds for suspecting that a child has been abused, or is at risk of being abused, the person must, as soon as practicable, notify a prescribed child welfare authority of his or her suspicion and the basis for the suspicion (see www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fla1975114/s67za.html).

What types of abuse are mandated reporters required to report?

In addition to differences across jurisdictions in the people who are mandated to report abuse concerns, there are also differences across jurisdictions in the abuse types for which it is mandatory to report. In some jurisdictions it is mandatory to report suspicions of each of the recognised abuse types (i.e., physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect), while in other jurisdictions it is mandatory to report only some of the abuse types.

Is the identity of notifiers protected?

In most jurisdictions (Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania), the identity of notifiers - whether mandated or not - is explicitly protected (the issue is unclear in the Queensland legislation). However, in some jurisdictions there are limits to this protection. For example, in the Northern Territory, the identity of reporters is not disclosed to families, but may be disclosed to the Family Matters Court upon request.

About whom can notifications be made?

Legislation in all jurisdictions except New South Wales requires mandatory reporting in relation to all young people up to the age of 18 (whether they use the terms "children" or "children and young people"). In New South Wales, the legislative grounds for intervention cover young people up to 18 years of age, but it is not mandatory to report suspicions of risk of harm in relation to young people aged 16 and 17. Although particular professional groups (such as psychologists) or government agencies (such as education departments in some states) may have protocols outlining the moral, ethical or professional responsibility or indeed the organisational requirement to report, they may not be officially mandated under their jurisdiction's child protection legislation. For example, in Queensland, school principals and teachers are required to report suspected abuse and neglect as per Education Queensland policy, but teachers and principals are not mandated to report under the relevant legislation. Further, in some jurisdictions, agreements between authorities can establish reporting requirements. For example, in Western Australia, there is an agreement between the Department of Health, the Department for Community Development and the Western Australia Police that requires the reporting of all children under 14 years of age with sexually transmitted infections (STI) and the reporting of children 14 and 15 years of age with a STI acquired through abuse.

What type of concerns must be reported and to what must child protection respond?

Mandatory reporting laws specify those conditions under which an individual is legally required to make a report to the statutory child protection service in their jurisdiction. This does not preclude an individual from making a report to the statutory child protection service if they have concerns for the safety and wellbeing of a child that do not fall within mandatory reporting requirements. A common assumption is that mandatory reporting requirements, the legislative grounds for intervention, and research classifications of abusive and neglectful behaviour are the same. In fact, mandatory reporting laws define the types of situations that must be reported to statutory child protection services. Legislative grounds for intervention define the circumstances and, importantly, the threshold at which the statutory child protection service is legally able to intervene to protect a child. Researchers typically focus on defining behaviours and circumstances that can be categorised as abuse and neglect. These differences arise because each description serves a different purpose; the lack of commonality does not mean that the system is failing to work as policy makers had intended.

What are the benefits of mandatory reporting requirements?

Mandatory reporting is considered to be a symbolic acknowledgement of the seriousness of child abuse. Mandatory reporting requirements reinforce the moral responsibility of community members to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect. The introduction of mandatory reporting aims to overcome the reluctance of some professionals to become involved in suspected cases of child abuse by imposing a public duty to do so. Mandatory reporting, and the publicity associated with its introduction, has been found to increase public awareness of child abuse, both within mandated professional groups and within the community at large.

Are there problems with the introduction of mandatory reporting?

As the introduction of mandatory reporting requirements within a jurisdiction tends to increase the community's awareness of child abuse, in many instances it also results in a substantial increase in the number of reports being made to child protection departments. If there are inadequate resources available to the responsible department to respond to the increased demand, then the increasing number of reports may result in services being overwhelmed with cases to investigate, and lacking sufficient staffing to do so. In order to cope with this influx of reports, some child protection departments have increased the threshold or level of seriousness of reports that give rise to an investigation; cases considered to be less serious may not be investigated at all. When mandated people report suspected cases of child abuse or neglect, they expect the child protection department to investigate and take action regarding their report. If this does not occur, there is a risk that such people may cease to make reports in the future. Further details and information about mandatory reporting can be obtained from the relevant statutory child protection authority in each jurisdiction (see Table 2). Table 2: Statutory child protection authorities

Jurisdiction Responsible authority Website

ACT	Office for Children, Youth and Family Support - Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services	www.dhcs.act.gov.au/ocyfs
NSW	Department of Community Services	www.community.nsw.gov.au
NT	Children, Youth and Families - Department of Health and Families	www.health.nt.gov.au/Children_Youth_and_Families
QLD	Department of Child Safety	www.childsafety.qld.gov.au
SA	Families SA - Department of Families and Communities	www.dfc.sa.gov.au/pub/Default.aspx?tabid=257
Tas.	Child Protection - Department of Health and Human Services	www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/health__and__wellbeing/ children_and_families/related_topics/child_protection
Vic.	Child Protection and Family Services - Department of Human Services	www.cyf.vic.gov.au/child-protection-family-services
WA	Department for Child Protection	www.community.wa.gov.au/DCP

RESEARCH

BUACA — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 05:00:29 CDT

Neuropsychiatric Disease

and Treatment Dove
submit your manuscript | www.dovepress.com Dovepress 509 R e v i ew open access to scientific and medical research Open Access Full Text Article 7256

Distinguishing between attention-deficit

hyperactivity and fetal alcohol spectrum

disorders in children: clinical guidelines

Elizabeth Peadon

Elizabeth J Elliott

Discipline of Paediatrics and Child

Health, Sydney Medical School,

University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Correspondence: Elizabeth Peadon

Deafness Centre, The Children’s Hospital

at Westmead, Cnr Hawkesbury Rd and

Hainsworth Street, Westmead,

NSW 2145, Australia

Tel

+61 2 9845 2139

Fax

+61 2 9845 2102

Email elizabp5@chw.edu.au

Abstract:
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are the physical and neurodevelopmental
outcomes of fetal alcohol exposure. The behavioral phenotype of children with FASD includes

difficulties with executive function, memory, planning, processing speed, and attention. Although

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is diagnosed in up to 94% of individuals with

heavy prenatal alcohol exposure, the exact relationship between FASD and ADHD is unclear.

There is some evidence that ADHD in FASD may be a specific clinical subtype and thus may

require a different treatment approach. Although traditional behavioral observation scales may

not distinguish between the two groups, there is evidence that children with FASD have a different

profile on the four-factor model of attention than children with ADHD who do not have

FASD. There is a paucity of good scientific evidence on effective interventions for individuals

with ADHD and FASD. There is weak evidence that children with FASD and ADHD may have

a better response to dexamphetamine than methylphenidate. There is a strong need for larger,

high quality studies to examine the relationship between ADHD and FASD and identify effective

treatments because management of inattention and hyperactivity may improve learning and

ameliorate the common secondary disabilities associated with FASD.

Keywords:
fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Introduction

Disruptive, hyperactive, and impulsive behaviors are highly prevalent in individuals

with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD).
1 In this paper we discuss the relationship
between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and FASD. Firstly, we

define ADHD and FASD and review the epidemiology of these conditions. Then we

discuss the rationale for distinguishing between ADHD with and without FASD and

review the evidence regarding the relationship between ADHD and FASD. Finally,

we discuss the approach to diagnosis and management of ADHD in individuals with

FASD.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

ADHD may be thought of as a group of conditions with similar behavioral symptoms

consequent to different etiologies.
2 ADHD is defined as a persistent pattern of behavior
including hyperactivity and impulsivity, and/or inattention that is more severe and

frequent than is usually seen in an individual at the same stage of development.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV)

defines three subtypes, ie, a combined type which includes symptoms of inattention and

hyperactivity or impulsivity, a predominantly inattentive type, in which hyperactive
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Peadon and Elliott

and impulsive symptoms are minor, and a predominantly

hyperactive-impulsive type, in which inattentive symptoms

are minor.
3 The subtypes may be discontinued in DSM-5.4
The mean intelligence quotient (IQ) score and IQ distribution

in the ADHD population are similar to that in the general

population.
2,5 ADHD is a neurobiologic disorder with genetic
and environmental origins. Family, adoption, and twin

studies

demonstrate a strong genetic contribution to ADHD,

which involves polymorphisms in a number of genes, such as

those which code for dopamine transporters. Environmental

risk factors for ADHD include antenatal exposure to toxins,

such as alcohol and tobacco, prematurity, adverse childhood

experiences, childhood illness, head trauma, and exposure

to environmental toxins.
3 The heterogeneity of ADHD may
be explained partially by the varying contribution of genes

and environmental factors for individual children. ADHD is

reported in all ethnic groups and social classes. The prevalence

of ADHD in children in the general population ranges

from 5% to 11%.
3,6
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) was f irst described in

1973,
7 but descriptions of the effects of alcohol exposure
during

pregnancy date back to ancient history.
8 FASD is
a nondiagnostic

umbrella term for the possible childhood

outcomes of prenatal alcohol exposure. FASD includes FAS,

partial FAS, alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder

(ARND), and alcohol-related birth defects. Individuals with

FAS have specific facial features (including short palpebral

fissures, flat philtrum, and thin upper lip), impaired prenatal

and/or postnatal growth, and structural or functional problems

of the central nervous system. If all of these features

are present and differential diagnoses are excluded, the diagnosis

of FAS can be made even if alcohol exposure during

pregnancy is not confirmed. Individuals with partial FAS

have most, but not all, the features of FAS. Individuals with

ARND have a complex pattern of behavioral and/or neurologic

impairment without the physical features of FAS. Fetal

alcohol effects (FAE) is an obsolete term previously used to

describe individuals with incomplete features of FAS. The

facial features of FAS occur with fetal alcohol exposure early

in the first trimester, but neuropsychologic deficits may occur

independent of the physical features of FAS.
9 In FAS, IQ
scores are reported to range from 20 to 120 with an average

IQ score between 68 and 72. Individuals with ARND have a

slightly higher IQ than individuals with FAS.
2 Internationally,
several diagnostic approaches to FASD have been proposed.

Although the diagnostic criteria and terminology used differ

only slightly, the use of different approaches is confusing and

makes comparison of study results difficult.
10–13 The estimated
prevalence of FAS is 0.5–2.0 per 1000 births, although a

prevalence of up to 68 per 1000 has been reported in some

high-risk communities.
14,15 The prevalence of the other FASD
diagnoses is not well defined, but it is estimated that FASD

affects 1% of all births in the US.
14
Many studies have focused on defining the behavioral

phenotype of FASD to assist diagnosis and intervention.

Individuals with FASD frequently display deficits in executive

functioning, memory, attention, visual-spatial abilities,

planning, cognitive flexibility, processing speed, inhibition

and inhibition/switching, deductive reasoning and verbal

abstract thinking, problem solving, verbal and spatial concept

formation, phonemic switching and phonologic working

memory, and motor skills.
16,17 Executive function deficits are
present in individuals with FASD whether or not they have

FAS.
18,19 Older children with FASD are more impaired than
younger children on verbal processing tasks.
17 These deficits
may contribute to lower IQ scores, poor academic achievement,

and learning problems.
17 Long-term studies show that
adolescents and young adults with FASD have high rates

of secondary disabilities including mental health problems

(90%), inappropriate sexual behavior (49%), disrupted school

education (60%), and trouble with the law (60%). More than

one third experience drug and alcohol problems.
20 These
secondary disabilities may arise from the neurobehavioral

deficits caused by prenatal alcohol exposure, with exacerbation

or amelioration by environmental factors.
9
Attention and hyperactivity

problems in FASD

Children with FASD are often described as hyperactive, distractible,

and impulsive, with short attention spans.
21 ADHD
is the most commonly reported mental health diagnosis in

individuals with prenatal alcohol exposure.
1,22 The prevalence
of ADHD (diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria) in children

with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure is between 49.4%

and 94%.
1,22 Unfortunately, prevalence studies have included
children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure (variously

defined), with and without a diagnosis of FASD, hence the

wide prevalence range. However, the prevalence of ADHD in

cohorts with FASD is consistently much higher than that in the

general population. The proportion of children with a diagnosis

of ADHD who also have FASD is not known and will be influenced

by underdiagnosis of FASD. Underdiagnosis occurs due

to a variety of factors, including health professionals’ reluctance

to ask about alcohol exposure in pregnancy or to make

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ADHD and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

a diagnosis due to lack of knowledge or fear of stigmatizing

the child.
23–25 The proportion of children with FAS diagnosed
with ADHD increases with the level of alcohol exposure.
1
Attention deficit in individuals with FASD is independent of

IQ and persists into adolescence and adulthood.
22,26,27 Inattention
symptoms are more commonly reported in children with

FASD who meet DSM-IV criteria for ADHD, than in children

with ADHD who do not have FASD.
28
Rationale for distinguishing between

ADHD and FASD

The prognosis and treatment responses for children with

ADHD and FASD differ to those of children with ADHD

alone. Children with FASD often present with early onset

ADHD with predominant inattentive symptoms.
6 They are
at high risk of secondary disabilities, which can be ameliorated

by early diagnosis of FASD and management of its

symptoms, especially if diagnosis is before the age of six

years. The reason for the improved prognosis is unclear

because there are few specific interventions for children

with FASD, but it may relate to improved understanding and

appropriate expectations of the children by their caregivers

and teachers.
20
Individuals with FASD may respond differently to

stimulant

medication than other children with ADHD.

Specifically,

children with FASD appear to have a differential

response to methylphenidate and dexamphetamine. In a

case series of 30 children with FASD and ADHD, 22%

(of 23 children) responded to methylphenidate, while 79%

(of 19 children) responded to dexamphetamine. Of the

children given both medications, eight did not respond to

methylphenidate

but later responded to dexamphetamine, one

child did not respond to dexamphetamine but later responded

to methylphenidate, and three children did not respond

to either medication.
29 The apparently increased response
rate to dexamphetamine may be explained by animal work

showing

that rats who were prenatally exposed to alcohol and

had physical hyperactivity showed “hyperresponsiveness”

to methylphenidate and that alcohol exposure acts on the

D
1 dopamine receptors of the mesolimbic system, which is
the site of action of dexamphetamine.
6,30,31 Decreased effectiveness
of methylphenidate

in animal and human studies

suggests that the front nigrostriatal pathway may not be the

mechanism in patients with FASD and comorbid ADHD.
6
ADHD and FASD

There may be multiple pathways to the coexistence of

ADHD symptoms and FASD, so there may be different

subsets of ADHD and FASD.
6,32 The relationship between
ADHD and FASD may be coincidental because ADHD is

a common disorder affecting up to 11% of children in the

general population. Adults with ADHD are more likely to

drink alcohol, thus pregnant women with ADHD who drink

alcohol during pregnancy may genetically transmit ADHD

to their offspring.
6
There may be common etiological pathways to ADHD and

the behavioral phenotype of FASD. Alternatively, acquired

ADHD secondary to prenatal alcohol exposure may be due to

the effect of alcohol on the developing dopamine transmitter

system. These two hypotheses are supported by changes in the

neurochemistry seen in animal studies of fetal alcohol exposure

in which deficits have been found in most neurotransmitter

systems, including the dopaminergic, noradrenergic,

serotonergic,

cholinergic, glutaminergic, gamma aminobutyric

acid (GABA)-ergic, and histaminergic

systems. Deficits in

noradrenergic and dopaminergic systems

are the most likely

ones to be related to the ADHD symptoms

seen in animals with

prenatal alcohol exposure. The D
1 receptors
of the mesolimbic

dopamine system tend to be affected by alcohol exposure more

than other dopamine systems.
6
Some studies support the idea that ADHD in FASD is a

particular clinical subtype with earlier onset, a different clinical

and neuropsychologic profile, and a different response

to psychostimulant medications. The Seattle Longitudinal

Prospective Study suggests that infants with a history of

prenatal alcohol exposure have an infant regulatory disorder

and temperament disturbance which precede the diagnosis

of ADHD. Research has shown that animals with prenatal

alcohol exposure have an exaggerated response to psychostimulants,

which is mediated by age, gender, and drug

dosage. There is evidence suggesting that individuals with

FASD and ADHD have a better response to dexamphetamine

than methylphenidate. Patients, such as those with FASD,

who have neurochemical or structural changes in the central

nervous system are often hypersensitive to the effects and

side effects of medication, and psychostimulant response in

these patients may improve with age.
6
Adaptive behavior

Adaptive function is the ability to meet developmentally

appropriate expectations of personal independence and social

responsibility, including performance of everyday tasks, and

adapt to changes in the environment.
33 Adaptive behavior
is affected in both FASD and ADHD. Using the Vinelands

Adaptive Behavior Scale, three groups were compared, ie,

children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure, children with

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Peadon and Elliott

ADHD, and normally developing children. Children with

prenatal alcohol exposure and children with ADHD had

significantly lower scores on the communication domain than

controls and, in the prenatal alcohol exposure group, age was

negatively associated with score. Children in the prenatal

alcohol exposure and ADHD groups had significantly lower

scores on daily living skills, but the prenatal alcohol exposure

group had significantly lower scores than the ADHD group.

Children in the prenatal alcohol exposure and ADHD groups

had significantly lower scores on socialization, but did not

differ from each other. Again, age was negatively associated

with the scores in the prenatal alcohol exposure group.

Within the FASD group, children scored best in daily living

skills and scored worst on socialization and communication

domains. They demonstrated increasing adaptive behavior

deficits with age. The children with ADHD had difficulty

with socialization skills and their adaptive behavior skills

improved with age. Overall, children in the prenatal alcohol

exposure group were more likely than children in the ADHD

and control groups to be rated as having inadequate adaptive

skills. When analyzed with matched IQs, the prenatal

alcohol exposure and ADHD groups did not differ from each

other. For adaptive behavior skills, the differences between

children with prenatal alcohol exposure and children with

ADHD may be accounted for by IQ.
33
Executive function

Executive function is the higher order process involved

in thought and action under conscious control, usually to

achieve a goal. It involves planning, inhibition, working

memory, organized speech, set-shifting, strategy employment,

flexible thinking, and fluency.
17 Executive function
is probably mediated by the frontal cortex, and prenatal

alcohol exposure may affect frontal cortex development.
17
Neuropsychologic measures of executive function assess

organization, planning, working memory, inhibition of inappropriate

responses, and set-shifting.
2
The common symptoms of behavioral disinhibition and

attention deficit in FASD and ADHD may be related to

problems with executive function.
2 There is evidence that
executive function is a core deficit in FASD and ADHD,

and neuroimaging shows that children with FASD and

ADHD may have structural and functional abnormalities in

the frontal-subcortical circuits, which are areas associated

with executive function. Behavioral data also confirm that

both populations have deficits in global adaptive abilities.

There is conflicting evidence regarding executive function

deficits in ADHD.
2
Nanson et al
21 conducted a prospective cohort study comparing
children with FAS or FAE with normal developing

(control) children and children with attention deficit disorder

(ADD) without FAS or FAE. Behavioral characteristics were

similar between the FAS/FAE and ADD groups. There were

no differences on parental rating for the two groups, suggesting

it is difficult to distinguish between the two groups using

traditional observational scales. The FAS/FAE group tended

to have slower performance and was more likely to improve

with practice than the ADD group. Unlike the ADD group,

the FAS/FAE group was not able to trade off accuracy in

favor of increased speed.
21
Coles et al
34 compared children with prenatal alcohol
exposure,

children with ADHD without prenatal

alcohol exposure, and control children with neither prenatal

alcohol exposure nor ADHD. They used traditional behavioral

and psychiatric measures of ADHD and externalizing

behavior

and neurocognitive measures of a four-factor model

of attention. Children with FAS or FAE had similar global

intellectual deficits to children with ADHD. Both groups

had difficulty with sequential functioning, but the FAS/FAE

group had greater difficulties on visual-spatial reasoning. The

FAS/FAE group struggled on arithmetic, while ADHD group

were poorer on reading/decoding. The FAS/FAE group had

nonsignificant decreases in scores on reading/decoding. Both

the FAS/FAE and ADHD groups had trouble with coding in

the revised edition of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for

Children. The FAS/FAE children had problems with encoding

on the second list of the paired-associate task and the number

of categories completed on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test

(WCST). On behavioral measures, the ADHD group scored

highest on the Child Behavior Checklist, the SNAP and the

DISC (diagnostic interview schedule for children) interview

items but the FAS/FAE group only differed from the control

group on the attention score on the Child Behavior Checklist.

On the Computer Performance Task, the ADHD group

had poor speed and accuracy, slower reaction times, and

more false alarms (associated with impulsivity). They also

had fewer hits and more misses. However, there was a large

dropout of children from the Computer Performance Task

(60% of the ADHD group, 52% of the FAS/FAE group, and

43% of controls). Using the four-factor model of attention,

the FAS/FAE group had problems with encoding and shift,

while the ADHD group had difficulties with focus and sustain.

The results of this study suggested that children with ADHD

and FAS/FAE have unique attentional profiles, and thus the

neurocognitive deficits may not be the same. The authors

recommend that children with ADHD are best identified using

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ADHD and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

behavior checklists and measures of the ability to focus and

sustain attention, while children with FAS/FAE have deficits

in visual-spatial skills, encoding of information, and flexibility

in problem solving.
34
Vaurio et al
2 examined executive function in children
with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure, children with ADHD

who were not exposed to prenatal alcohol, and children with

neither ADHD nor prenatal alcohol exposure. The children

with prenatal alcohol exposure performed worse than the

ADHD group on letter fluency and category fluency. On Trail

making Test-B, the prenatal alcohol exposure group differed

significantly from the control group. The ADHD group did

not differ significantly from the control group on this test.

The prenatal alcohol exposure and ADHD groups had similar

deficits on the WCST and both performed more poorly on

letter fluency than category fluency. However, letter fluency

was significantly poorer in the prenatal alcohol exposure

group. In this study the prenatal alcohol exposure group

performed better on the WCST than predicted by IQ but the

ADHD group performed more poorly than predicted by IQ.

This finding for the prenatal alcohol exposure group was in

conflict with previous studies in which executive function

deficits remained or worsened when IQ was controlled.
2
Summary

In summary, there is some evidence for distinguishing

between children with FASD and children with ADHD.

Using the four-factor model of attention it has been shown

that children with FASD have difficulties with encoding and

shift, while the children with ADHD have problems with

focus and sustain. Other findings have not been consistently

reproduced across studies and the usefulness of traditional

behavioral observation scales for distinguishing between

the two groups has not been proven. The main obstacles to

comparison of study findings are the use of different inclusion

criteria, definitions and outcome measures. In particular,

published studies frequently include children with heavy

prenatal alcohol exposure (variously defined) with or without

confirmed FASD in one group.

Diagnosis of the impulsive,

hyperactive, or inattentive child

The diagnosis of ADHD should only be made after a comprehensive

assessment including a medical, developmental and

psychosocial history, and examination. The DSM-IV criteria

are the minimum requirement for a diagnosis of ADHD.
3
ADHD is not an etiologic diagnosis, and assessment of the

impulsive, hyperactive, or inattentive child should always

include a thorough history and examination for potential

causes, including alcohol exposure in pregnancy. Although

enquiry regarding alcohol exposure in pregnancy should be

routine, many health professionals do not ask.
24,25
Behavioral rating scales can provide useful information,

in a standardized format, from multiple informants, and can

be used to monitor response to treatment. Many measures are

available, such as the Child Behavior Checklist, the Strength

and Difficulties Questionnaires, and specific ADHD scales,

eg, the Conners’ rating scales. The Behavior Rating Inventory

of Executive Function (BRIEF) is a useful tool for evaluating

behavioral, social, and emotional aspects of executive

functioning in children with FASD.
35
Standard criteria should be used for the diagnosis of

FASD.
10–13 The choice of diagnostic criteria will be determined
by local guidelines and clinician preference. Assessment

and diagnosis of FASD usually requires input from

medical and allied health professionals due to the range

of physical and neurologic structural and functional issues

which can occur in FASD and are required to fulfill diagnostic

criteria.

Treatment of ADHD in FASD

There is a paucity of high quality evidence assessing interventions

for children with both FASD and ADHD.
36 There
are two very small, randomized, controlled trials which

examine the use of stimulant medication. The first study

compared methylphenidate with placebo (n
= 4). Compared
with placebo, methylphenidate improved hyperactivity and

impulsivity symptoms but not attention.
37 Adverse effects
from the methylphenidate were reported for three of the four

children, and one child had to discontinue methylphenidate 12

weeks into the trial due to excessive weight loss. In the second

study, usual stimulant medication was compared with placebo

(n
= 12). Compared with placebo, stimulants improved
hyperactivity symptoms but not attention.
38 Psychopharmacologic
agents have also been examined in retrospective and

uncontrolled studies.
29,39,40 In one study, stimulant medication
improved hyperactivity and impulsivity scores, but inattention

was less responsive to medication.
40 In a retrospective
study, there was a suggestion that children with ADHD and

FASD had a preferential response to dexamphetamine.
29 The
role of atomoxetine is being assessed in two studies including

one randomized controlled trial.
36
There is one study of behavioral or psychological intervention

for children with FASD and ADHD symptoms, in

which 23 children were randomized to receive attention

process training or contact control sessions.
36 The group
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Peadon and Elliott

receiving attention process training had significantly more

improvement on measures of sustained attention and nonverbal

reasoning ability than controls, but not on measures

of executive function.

Because there is little evidence specific to the management

of ADHD in FASD, the approach to intervention is

mostly extrapolated from the ADHD literature. Multimodal

therapy is the recommended treatment for ADHD in all age

groups. This could include pharmacologic and behavioral

interventions. The Multi-modal Treatment Study of Children

with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder demonstrated

that pharmacologic management was superior to an

intensive behavioral intervention at a 14-months follow-up.

Compared

with pharmacologic management alone, combined

pharmacologic

and intensive behavioral interventions did

not significantly improve core ADHD symptoms, but treatment

outcomes were achieved with a significantly lower

dose of medication in the combined treatment group than in

the pharmacologic management group.
41 The management
plan should also take into consideration the comorbidities

of ADHD and FASD.
3,6
Medication will not be needed for all individuals with

ADHD and should only be used when the symptoms

are pervasive across settings and are causing significant

impairment in academic, social, or behavioral domains.

Individuals receiving medication require regular review, at

least six monthly. Medications for ADHD include stimulant

(methylphenidate and dexamphetamine) and nonstimulant

medications (eg, atomoxetine). Stimulant medications are

thought to act by altering the availability of dopamine and

noradrenaline, which influences behavior inhibition, impulse

control, and attention.
3 Clinicians should consider trialing
dexamphetamine first, because there is some evidence suggesting

that children with FASD have a preferential response

to dexamphetamine over methylphenidate. Methylphenidate

is available in immediate-release and extended-release

formulations, but there is no evidence regarding the use of

extended-release methylphenidate preparations in children

with FASD. Atomoxetine is a nonstimulant medication

which is classified as a noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor.
3
The evidence regarding atomoxetine use in FASD is pending.

There is no evidence available regarding the use of other

nonstimulant medications in FASD.

Conclusion

ADHD is the most frequent comorbidity of FASD but the

exact relationship between the two entities is not well defined.

There is some evidence that a specific clinical subtype of

ADHD occurs in FASD, with earlier onset and a different

response to medication. However, the relationship between

ADHD and FASD may be coincidental, may reflect a common

etiologic pathway, or may reflect the frequent genetic

origin of ADHD and its prevalence in the general population.

It is likely that a range of these etiologic factors account for

ADHD in FASD, resulting in a heterogeneous population,

which makes it difficult to replicate or generalize findings

across studies.

Impairment of executive function may be a common

underlying factor in ADHD and FASD but, using the fourfactor

model of attention, there is evidence of difference

between these two groups. Children with FASD have difficulties

with encoding and shift, and children with ADHD

without FASD have problems with focus and sustain. If this

difference is reproducible in large cohorts, then it may be

useful for diagnosis in the clinical population.

There are clinical benefits to clarifying whether an

individual has FASD because early diagnosis of FASD can

ameliorate the secondary disabilities. There may be a differential

medication response in individuals with ADHD

who also have FASD, in particular a possible preferential

response to dexamphetamine. However, the evidence to

support treatments for ADHD in FASD is scarce.

There is a need for large, high quality studies examining

the etiology, diagnosis, and interventions for ADHD in FASD

because there is the potential to modify significantly the poor

adult outcomes associated with the secondary disabilities.

Agreement on the most appropriate diagnostic criteria and

terminology for FASD and standardization of outcome measures

would improve the translation of research findings into

clinical practice. The development of effective interventions

will be guided by improved understanding of the etiology

of ADHD in FASD and the ability to diagnose FASD more

accurately.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflict of interest in this work.

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HISTORY&RESEARCH

BUACA — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:00:30 CDT

How can you understand why a child is abused if you DONT understand History?

If you can understand how children have been affected by child abuse in history you will soon draw comparisons with how child abuse has been with us since day one and will be with us to the end, we will never defeat it but more we will learn how to treat it.......Pete Geary

Please feel free to add comments and or links....

During the 19th century, the age of consent for heterosexual vaginal sex was 12, in 1890, the Parliament raised the age of consent to 14. The punishment for anyone who had sexual intercourse with a child younger than 14 was life imprisonment and whipping while the punishment for anyone who only attempted to seduce an underage girl was two years' imprisonment and whipping. Canada had also laws against "seducing" minor girls who were over the age of consent. In 1886, a law was enacted which made the "seduction" of a girl over 12 and under 16 "of previously chaste character" a criminal offence; the "seduction" of a female under 18 "under promise of marriage" was also made illegal in 1886, and amended in 1887 to apply to females under 21.After the raising of the age of consent to 14, the laws against "seducing" minor girls were amended to apply to those older than 14, and various laws of this kind have remained in force through the 20th century. The age of consent was raised from 14 to 16 in the spring of 2008, when the Tackling Violent Crime Act became effective. The age of consent for anal sex still remains 18 under section 159, and the new measures still allow for close in age exceptions between 12 and 16: if there is no more than a two year gap for those 12 and 13, or a five year gap for those 14 and 15.

Female homosexuality was never illegal in the former British colonies; oral sex was legalized in 1969 with the same age of consent as vaginal sex and anal sex was also legalized in 1969, but with a higher age of consent being set at 21, under section 159; then in 1988 the age of consent for anal sex was lowered to 18. As of 2008 there are no plans to repeal section 159, even though it has been ruled unconstitutional in some places of Canada.

Ancient Greece

The word ********** originates from the Greek words paidos, meaning child, and philia, meaning love. A ********* is characterized by sexual attraction to and maybe love for children. The first scientist to use the concept was the German sexologist and physician Richard Krafft-Ebing. In his monograph Psychopatia Sexualis, published in 1886, he defined ********** as a psychosexual perversion, open to cure. This was in sharp contrast to the prevailing religious and moral judgment on sexual relations between adults and children. To Krafft-Ebing, ********** could be caused by senility or other mental deficiencies. Around 1906, his British counterpart Havelock Ellis presented ********** as an extreme version of normal masculine sexuality. Currently, ********** is understood as a divergence of personality, caused by psychological damage in early childhood. This concept was rarely used in English before the 1950s.

It is generally believed that ********** vary as much as any other group of human beings. The majority consists of men, who seek contact with children, mainly boys, in early puberty. Some wish to stimulate the child, some seek mutual stimulation, and others want to have intercourse with the child. A minority, who get most of the press coverage, are fascinated by sadistic elements in their relation to children, as was the case among a group of ********** in Holland and Belgium who were discovered during the 1990s in a widely publicized case.

Until relatively recently, ********** had fairly easy access to children, who were left largely unattended by parents. During the last two decades of the twentieth century, growing attention to the phenomenon has made it more difficult for ********** to act out their sexual urges. This is why easy access to CHILD PORNOGRAPHY and chat rooms on the Internet play such a prominent role in stimulating the fantasies of ********** and, probably, alleviating the desire for more aggressive behavior.

The first British and American surveys of sexual CHILD ABUSE date from the 1920s. More substantial surveys were conducted from the 1950s on, with the Kinsey Reports taking the lead. A comparative study of Anglo-American surveys covering the years 1940 though 1990 showed no noticeable change in the prevalence of abuse of girls younger than fourteen. Between 10 and 12 percent are thought to have been sexually abused. There are no comparable figures for boys. The surveys of the 1990s produced highly contradictory data, which vary depending on differences in study populations and design. The number of college students who claim to have been sexually abused as children varies from 15 to 30 percent. Of these, only five or six percent mention that they have experienced intercourse during childhood. Scandinavian surveys show a similar picture. Official crime statistics indicate a much lower incidence of child sexual abuse, which suggests a large number of unreported instances, especially for severe crimes in family settings. To what degree the sexual abuse is caused by **********–in the figure of the "dirty old man"–and not by relatives or other persons known to the child is impossible to discern from the existing statistical sources. But all research suggests that the most severe sexual abuses of children are related to incestuous relations within the family.

Pedagogical pederasty

Those scholars who prefer the historical approach are convinced that pederasty originates in Dorian initiation rites. The Dorians were the last tribe to migrate to Greece, and they are usually described as real he-men with a very masculine culture. According to the proponents of this theory, pederasty came to being on the Dorian island Crete, where grown-up men used to kidnap adolescents. It is assumed that this practice spread from Crete to the Greek mainland. In the soldiers' city Sparta, it was not uncommon when a warrior took care of a recruit and stood next to him on the battlefield, where the two men bravely protected each other. Especially in aristocratic circles, pederasty is believed to have been common.

There are, indeed, a great many pictures on vases that show how an older lover, the erastes, courts a boy, the eromenos. They appear not to be of the same age: the erastes has a beard and plays an active role, whereas the adolescent has no beard and remains passive. He will never take an initiative, looks shy, and is believed not to have enjoyed the sexual union. His older lover reached an orgasm by anal or intercrural contact. ("Intercrural" means that the erastes moved his penis between the boy's thighs.) on a vase, you will never see a boy with an erection, even when his erastes touches his genitals. It is assumed by many modern scholars that as soon as the adolescent had a beard, the love affair had to be finished. He had to find an eromenos of his own.

It was certainly shameful when a man with a beard remained the passive partner (pathikos) and it was even worse when a man allowed himself to be penetrated by another grown-up man. The Greeks even had a pejorative expression for these people, whom were called kinaidoi. They were the targets of ridicule by the other citizens, especially comedy writers. For example, Aristophanes (c.445-c.380) shows them dressed like women, with a bra, a wig and a gown, and calls them euryprôktoi, "wide arses".

In this scholarly reconstruction of ancient sexual behavior, the older lover is presented as some sort of substitute father: he is there to help his beloved one on his way to manhood and maturity, and to initiate him in the customs of grown-up people. He showed his affection with little presents, like animals (a hare or ****), but also pieces of meat, a disk, a bottle of oil, a garland, a toy, or money. This type of love affair was, according to this modern theory, based upon (sexual) reciprocity

For more on ancient rome and its history of using children for sex and companionship HERE

Honourable senators, abuse and neglect in the death of children is historical. In a work published in 1972 entitled Checks on Population Growth: 1750-1850, William Langer, professor emeritus of history at Harvard University, wrote on the widespread use of infant homicide as population control. One popular method of killing children was the use of Godfrey's Cordial, a poisonous mixture of opium, treacle and sassafras. Another was overlaying; that is, smothering the child as it nursed at its mother's breast. The perpetrators in most cases of child killing never reached the courts, and those who did, Langer informs, "...were usually let off with a light sentence; ..." Langer writes that a London coroner, Edwin Lankester, testified in the 1800s that he:

... had never known of a woman's being punished for killing her baby, no matter how flagrant the circumstances.

Langer also quotes Dr. William Ryan in 1862:

... that infanticide is not looked upon in the same light as other murders by the public generally... There is no crime that meets with so much sympathy, often of the most ill-judged kind.

Most literature on child abuse and the psycho-history of childhood informs that the perpetrators of this violence and neglect against children are their parents, most often their mothers.

Between 1880 and 1930, Canada imported from England our littlest immigrants. Some 80,000 children were imported from England to Canada. Of these, 30,000 were sent by Dr. Thomas John Barnardo, of Barnardo's homes for boys and girls. The expressions "Barnardo's boys" and "Barnardo's girls" were then part of the lexicon of emerging child welfare. These immigrants were abandoned children, taken from the streets, workhouses and pauper homes of England to be transported to Canada. The youngest were adopted, and the older ones were assigned to farms in Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. There were many success stories but there were some tragic ones. One tragic story is the death of the little immgrant George Green at the hands of his female caretaker Helen Findlay in 1895 in Owen Sound, Ontario where Coroner, Dr. Allan Cameron, testified that the 15 year old boy died of neglect, starvation and physical brutality. He testified that the state of George Green's body, and the condition of the room where he died would haunt his memory forever, and that in his 40 years in medicine, including his days in the slums of Glasgow, he had seen nothing as terrible. Helen Findlay was charged with murder, later reduced to manslaughter. Her justification was that little immigrant Green was a sickly child, disabled, defective from head to foot, cross-eyed, humpbacked, and quite useless. Helen Findlay went free and suffered no penalty in George Green's murder.

Venetian Senator Sanuto wrote that the then Cardinal Borja fancied Rosa Vannozza dei Cattanei, the pretty young married daughter of his chamberlain, whom Borja paid to arrange a series of secret daytime liaisons with her. As a result of this affair, Cesare Borja (1475-1507) was born, and the birth certificate acknowledges this.

In his teenage years, a bitter Cesare, in his father's presence, stabbed the chamberlain, decapitated him and pierced his head on a pole with an attached inscription saying: "This is the head of my grandfather who prostituted his daughter to the pope" (A History of the Popes, op. cit., Alexander VI chapter). The evidence is serious.

It was claimed that Alexander VI had sex with Lucrezia (1480-1519), his daughter by Rosa Vannozza dei Cattanei. One wit of Rome called Lucrezia "the pope's daughter, wife and daughter-in-law", and he reportedly fathered "nieces" with her (A History of the Popes, ibid.). It is not worth serious enquiry here whether he had two or three children with Lucrezia, as most acknowledge, but other aspects of his conduct must be noted....More HERE

Qualities of Aisha and her role in Islam

“Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed [alone] for two years or so. He married Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age,

and he consummated that marriage when she was nine years old.”

Age of Aisha at time of marriage with Holy Prophet Muhammad

It is believed on the authority of some Hadith reports that the marriage ceremony (known as nikah, amounting to betrothal) of Aisha with the Holy Prophet Muhammad took place when she was six years of age, and that she joined the Holy Prophet as his wife three years later at the age of nine. We quote below from two such reports in Bukhari.

“It is reported from Aisha that she said: The Prophet entered into marriage with me when I was a girl of six … and at the time [of joining his household] I was a girl of nine years of age.”

“Khadija died three years before the Prophet departed to Medina. He stayed [alone] for two years or so. He married Aisha when she was a girl of six years of age, and he consummated that marriage when she was nine years old.”

As to the authenticity of these reports, it may be noted that the compilers of the books of Hadith did not apply the same stringent tests when accepting reports relating to historical matters as they did before accepting reports relating to the practical teachings and laws of Islam. The reason is that the former type of report was regarded as merely of academic interest while the latter type of report had a direct bearing on the practical duties of a Muslim and on what was allowed to them and what was prohibited. Thus the occurrence of reports such as the above about the marriage of Aisha in books of Hadith, even in Bukhari, is not necessarily a proof of their credibility...

Child's Testimony: 1996

"She giggled for a moment, a 13-year-old girl, all sparkling eyes and white teeth, her laughter washing over the grunts from a pornographic video playing a few feet away. Then the brothel owner strutted over.

The owner, a hearty, friendly woman in her late 20s, who paid good money to buy the girl, named Sriy, cheerfully and explicitly recommended her anatomical features and said the $10 fee was not so great because "she only just lost her virginity." In fact, that is a lie. Sriy was sold into prostitution two years ago.

As if to prove her point, the brothel owner reached out and, pushing Sriy's hand away, tugged down on the girl's dress to display her left breast, or rather the nipple of what will become a breast if Sriy survives to maturity. "You like?" the owner asked in broken English. "You take girl?"

Sriy endures these indignities, along with up to 10 customers a night, because she is considered the brothel owner's property. Sold by her stepfather to another brothel, which then sold her to this one, the girl must work until the debt is deemed to be repaid. Or until she gets AIDS.

If she tries to escape, she will be caught, severely beaten, perhaps starved, and locked inside her room, while still being forced to have sex with many customers a night."

(Kristoft, 1996)

Read More Here

AUSTRALIA -CHILD ABUSE

eightdogs — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:22:11 CDT

AUSTRALIA ~ CHILD ABUSE
REPORTS

The Cost of Child Abuse in Australia
Report by Access Economics Pty Limited,
Australian Childhood Foundation and
Child Abuse Prevention Research Australia
at Monash University

NOVEMBER 2008

http://www.childhood.org.au/Assets/Files/976067aa-98e0-47fc-a608-cbc3d3c11f06.pdf
The Cost of Child Abuse in Australia

Child protection Australia 2008–09
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Canberra
Cat. no. CWS 35

January 2010

http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/cws/35/10859.pdf
Child protection Australia 2008–09

KAZZIES WRITINGS

eightdogs — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 08:06:19 CDT

KAZZIE K WRITINGS

SPECIAL LIMITED OFFER
KAZZIE K BOOKS GIVES BACK

http://www.scribd.com/doc/30824183/Microsoft-Word-Kazzie-s-4-Month-Offer
http://www.scribd.com/doc/30824183/Microsoft-Word-Kazzie-s-4-Month-Offer

LIMITED TIME ONLY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Magic of Kindness

http://www.scribd.com/doc/33008946/Microsoft-Word-The-Magic-of-Kindness
The Magic of Kindness

An Aussie Grandma and the Government

http://www.scribd.com/doc/32863623/Microsoft-Word-An-Aussie-Grandma-and-the-Government
An Aussie Grandma and the Government

NSW Government and Me

http://www.scribd.com/doc/32634931/Microsoft-Word-NSW-Government-and-Me
NSW Government and Me

The Children Wait and Watch Us

http://www.scribd.com/doc/32597784/Microsoft-Word-The-Children-Wait-and-Watch-Us
The Children Wait and Watch Us

WHY DOES OUR NAVY INSULT VICTIMS OF CHILD ABUSE & THEIR FAMILIES & WHY DOES THE
GOVERNMENT ALLOW IT?
I WOULD LIKE AN ANSWER WOULDN'T YOU...?

http://www.scribd.com/doc/31426141/Microsoft-Word-Derek-Percy

WHEN YOU HAVE GOT OVER THE SHOCK OF THIS, PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION & PASS IT ON,...THIS CANNOT BE ACHIEVED WITHOUT YOUR VOICE.

TOGETHER WE MUST STAND UNITED

End Naval Pensions for Paedophiles
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/end-naval-pensions-for-paedophiles.html

Published by kazzie kennedy on May 14, 2010

Category: Justice

Region: GLOBAL

Target: Australian Defence Department

Web site: http://www.kazziekbooks.com

Background (Preamble):

Derek Percy a sexual psychopath served limited time in the Royal Australian Navy who is serving a life sentence for his crimes yet he still receives a Naval Pension. This surely must be stopped.

This sexual predator steals the lives of the innocent and delivers the children he destroys a life sentence. Who helps these innocent children? How does this man receive payment from a government body?

In my opinion he gave up those rights the day he took the life of his first victim.

Petition:

We the undersigned implore the Australian Defence Force to put an end to the Naval Pension of this sexual psychopath who goes by the name of Derek Percy.

We further seek to have any and all benefits returned to the taxpayers and upon the return divide this money between the victims' families.

Sign the petition

The End Naval Pensions for Paedophiles petition to Australian Defence Department was written by kazzie kennedy and is hosted free of charge at GoPetition. Contact author here.

Promote this petition with a popular social bookmarking service [?]:

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HOW CAN YOU HELP...?????

eightdogs — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 05:13:24 CDT

HOW CAN YOU HELP
???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCNFj2Md1X0

INTERVIEWS WITH OFFENDERS

eightdogs — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 05:11:00 CDT

INTERVIEWS WITH OFFENDERS

PLEASE BE WARNED THAT THESE INTERVIEWS ARE DIRECT, AND TO THE POINT. IT IS INTERVIEWS SUCH AS THIS THAT MAKE YOU REALISE THAT IT TAKES ALL TYPES, AND THAT ********** & CHILD ABUSERS COME IN MANY DIFFERENT FORMS.

PLEASE BEWARE THAT THESE INTERVIEWS ARE DISTURBING, BUT SO IS THE DAMAGE THAT THE OFFENDER DOES TO THE INNOCENT CHILDREN.

Interviews with Offenders

PLEASE WATCH BOTH THESE VIDEOS....PART 1 AND 2

Interview with Offender Part 2

REMEMBER THIS IS JUST ONE OFFENDER, ONE OF MANY OFFENDERS THAT HAVE DESTROYED OUR CHILDREN. WE ALL NEED TO BE VIGILANT AS TO WHAT OUR CHILDREN ARE DOING AT ALL TIMES TO SAVE THEN FROM ********** SUCH AS THIS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oldfield's Interview

Nigel Oldfield V's John Gaunt
PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS RADIO INTERVIEW BETWEEN THE SUN HOST JOHN GAUNT & ********* NIGEL OLDFIELD.............

From Wikisposure

Jump to: navigation, search

Nigel Leigh Oldfield

Age	49
Birthdate	July 26, 1960
Race	Caucasian
Occupation	Student, former teacher
Location	Doncaster, South Yorks United Kingdom
Physical Description
See picture below
Affiliations
GirlChat
Synopsis
"Dr." Oldfield fancies himself a scholar, but it's obvious by the content on his own site that he is a dangerous stalker and a sadist, besides being a ********* activist.

Nigel Oldfield, UK

Article about Oldfield in the UK

WM, AKA Nigel Leigh Oldfield, AKA webmanager-critest, AKA Jack Barot, AKA JackBarotBass, is a ********* who is a member of GirlChat. "Dr." Oldfield, however, is not just a *********. He also gets his jollies from harassing victims of past sexual abuse, and bullying children into revealing their identities online. See The "Fayla" Incident. He spent 7 months in jail, and is still on probation for possessing and manufacturing child pornography. In the past, Oldfield has been returned to jail for stalking a victim, and his website has tomes of documents recording the process, and his indignant response all the way through. However, that didn't stop this man. He has very recently harassed a sexual abuse survivor on her blogs, asking her if she was sure if she was abused, and whether or not she enjoyed the abuse. Oldfield serves as yet another good example of a ********* activist who's obviously a threat to other people, children and adults alike. On GirlChat, he tries to portray himself as an expert on a wide variety of topics, but even his fellow ********** view him with disdain and contempt. His website, instead of being the scholarly repository of intellectual material he seems to think it is, is a tabloid style, narcissistic representation of what a crazed individual this man really is.

EXCLUSIVE: PERVERT RUNS CHILD ABUSE WEBSITE FROM HIS JAIL CELL

By Robert Stansfield 31/08/2005

Shamed tutor is paedophile 'agony uncle'

A TWISTED teacher jailed for downloading 11,000 vile images of children is masterminding a website for paedophiles from behind bars.

Disgraced chemistry tutor Nigel Oldfield, 44, plays "agony uncle" to perverts who log on to the site, which justifies paedophile activities and demands sex with children be made legal.

The site also advises paedophiles on how to download child porn without being caught.

Oldfield uses the telephone and the post to direct his online sex offenders' network.

One rant on the website's message board states: "Everyone will have sex with anyone unless they restrict themselves - so everyone is a bisexual paedophile. The common sense position is that it is biologically normal that adolescents are sexually attractive."

In response to a music teacher being jailed for downloading 38,000 child porn images, another posting says: "This man has harmed no-one, and is being forced to pretend that he hates his sexuality.

"I'm in a similar situation, having been twice convicted of possession of child pictures. I've just finished a sex offenders' course. Two-and-a-half hours of mind-numbing tedium each week was the real punishment."

The site also provides "model answers" to those caught downloading child porn to help them escape prosecution and offers technical explanations so paedophiles can claim they viewed images by mistake.

Oldfield was arrested in August 2002 after a shopper saw him taking pictures of children in Sheffield's Meadowhall shopping centre. Police then discovered child porn images on computers at his flat in Doncaster. He set up the website, which the Mirror has chosen not to name, while out on licence after serving eight months for possessing child porn.

But now he has managed to restart it and Oldfield is in contact with fellow perverts on the running of the website, which offers a mobile number and an email address to offer one-to-one "support".

Victims' charity Phoenix Survivors is now joining British police and the FBI in a bid to shut down the site. Phoenix chief executive, Shy Keenan, said: "Oldfield has somehow managed to get this up and running right under the noses of prison guards.

"He's made contact with his cronies for the day-to-day running of the site, while he is still on hand to offer his sick form of 'advice'.

"The worry is site users have their warped opinions reinforced by other paedophiles and go on to abuse. It makes their behaviour seem normal and seeks to justify their actions.

"It also helps them cover their tracks, making their crimes even harder to detect."

The original site was shut down by US service provider iPowerweb when it learned of the nature of the site. The site's latest version went online last week but the new American internet provider was unavailable for comment.

Police have vowed to monitor the website.

The latest web scandal comes as the Home Office consults on plans to outlaw the downloading of violent and abusive images.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/tm_objectid=15913433&method=full&siteid=94762-name_page.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20050529/ai_n14646200

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A CANDID INTERVIEW WITH 4 CONVICTED CHILD SEX OFFENDERS.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO BE AWARE OF.....
HOW DO THEY GROOM THEIR VICTIMS.....
DO THEY SHOW ANY REMORSE.....
ARE THEY STRANGERS OR FRIENDS TO THE VICTIMS.....

PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO,..YOU WITH BE ASTOUNDED.....

Oprah's Conversation with Child Mol...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Geoffrey Leonard,

Name: Geoffrey Leonard

Age: 76yrs old

State: NSW-Sydney(Hornsby)

Sentence: Convicted of child sex offences against 2 minors in 1990.Sentenced to 3 yrs jail.

Offence/Other: Sexually assaulted 2 children (boys aged 13/ 16yrs).
This paedophile appeared on the TV program "A Current Affair" (ACA) 29-6-2005. Is living in the Northern Sydney suburbs.

WORLD LEADERS - PEOPLE

eightdogs — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 02:35:03 CDT

WORLD LEADERS - PEOPLE

June 7, 2010

The nephew of a former Somalian dictator has avoided jail after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

Nephew of Somalian dictator avoids jail over sex assault
Omar Artan

Omar Artan, 21, had sex with the girl after meeting her at a service station in Preston last October.

A court heard that up until the assault Artan had been a respected citizen and had won an award from the police chief commissioner for his work with African youth.

Artan's uncle Mohammed Siad Barre, a military dictator, was president of Somalia from 1969 to 1991.

His father was finance minister during Barre's reign, the court heard.

Artan, of Ascot Vale, pleaded guilty in the Victorian County Court to sexual penetration of a child under 16.

Judge Roy Punshon today placed Artan on a two-year jail sentence wholly suspended for two years.

Judge Punshon said Artan, who was married in January this year, felt shamed by the sexual assault, had pleaded guilty and had previously been of good character.

Artan will be a registered sex offender for 15 years.

In an obituary in The New York Times following Barre's death in 1995, he was described as a dictator who left power with his country in civil war and on the brink of starvation.

"General Siad Barre's rule was marked by a war with Ethiopia, a flip-flop in political alliances from the Soviet Union to the United States, and growing allegations of human rights abuses," the article said.

AAP

CHEMICAL CASTRATION OF OFFENDERS

eightdogs — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 02:01:40 CDT

CHEMICAL CASTRATION OF OFFENDERS

COUNTRIES TAKING PART IN CHEMICAL CASTRATION

Poland approves chemical castration for paedophiles

Posted Wed Jun 9, 2010 8:31am AEST

Some rapists and paedophiles in Poland could be forced to undergo chemical castration after a new law came into effect.

The procedure, to control the offender's sex drive, would apply in cases involving sex crimes against children or in cases of incest.

The law was passed last year with strong backing from prime minister Donald Tusk after the case of a man in his 40s who was convicted of repeatedly raping his daughter and fathering two children by her.

Anyone guilty of raping a child under the age of 15 can now be forced to submit to chemical and psychological therapy to reduce sex drive at the end of a prison term.

A court will decide on the appropriate therapy after consulting experts.

Chemical castration has been tried in France and Canada, but normally on a voluntary basis.

The use of compulsory chemical castration, which is reversible, remains a subject for debate in Europe.

- BBC

REHABILITATION OF OFFENDERS

eightdogs — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 01:55:24 CDT

REHABILITATION OF OFFENDERS

AGES OF CONSENT IN ASIA

eightdogs — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 01:15:12 CDT

AGES OF CONSENT IN ASIA

Ages of consent in Asia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Main article: Age of consent

Age of consent laws for heterosexual sex worldwide

The ages of consent for sexual activity vary by jurisdiction across Asia. The specific activity engaged in or the gender of its participants can also be affected by the law. Below is a discussion of the various laws dealing with this subject. The highlighted age refers to an age at or above which an individual can engage in unfettered sexual relations with another who is also at or above that age. Other variables, for example homosexual relations or close in age exceptions may exist and are noted when relevant, for example in Indonesia. //

[edit] Afghanistan

The age of consent is 16,[1]

[edit] Azerbaijan

The age of consent in Azerbaijan is 16. Article 152 Sexual intercourse with the person below the age of 16 years-old, as well as the same offences linked with satisfaction of sexual passion in perverted forms shall be punished by imprisonment up to 3 years.[2]

[edit] Bahrain

The age of consent is 16.[3]

[edit] Bangladesh

The 1860 Indian Penal Code was inherited by Bangladesh which makes the age of consent 14

[edit] Bhutan

The age of consent in Bhutan is 18.[4]

[edit] Brunei

The age of consent in Brunei is 16. Article 2 of this Act determines the offence as follows: Any person who has or attempts to have carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of sixteen (16) years except by way of marriage, shall be guilty of an offence: Penalty, imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than 2 years and not more than 7 years and to whipping not exceeding 24 strokes of the rattan in the case of an adult or 12 strokes of the rattan in the case of a youthful offender.[5]

[edit] Burma

The 1860 Indian Penal Code was also inherited in Myanmar, making the age of consent 14 there as well.[6] Section 375. [15] A man is said to commit "rape" who, except in the case hereinafter excepted, has sexual intercourse with a woman under circumstances falling under any of the five following descriptions: First.-- Against her will. Secondly.-- Without her consent. Thirdly—With her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death or hurt. Fourthly. -- With her consent, when the man knows that he is not her husband, and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is or believes herself to be lawfully married. Fifthly. -- With or without her consent, when she is under fourteen years.

[edit] Cambodia

The age of consent in Cambodia is 16.[7]

[edit] China

[edit] Hong Kong

In Hong Kong the age of consent for sexual activity is 16 for heterosexual couples[8]. Under s.124 of the Crimes Ordinance (Cap.200)[8], a man who has unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 16 shall be liable to imprisonment for 5 years. Under s.123 of the Crimes Ordinance[9], a man who has unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13 shall be liable to imprisonment for life. Under s.122 of the Crimes Ordinance[9], a person under the age of 16 cannot in law give any consent which would prevent an act being an assault for the purposes of indecent assault. Hence, a woman who has sexual intercourse with a boy under 16 will be prosecuted under this section. The previous position regarding homosexual couples is contained in s.118C which provides that a man who commits or suffers to commit buggery with a man under the age of 21 is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for life.[10]. However, this section was struck down as unconstitutional in Leung TC William Roy v Secretary for Justice.[11]

[edit] Mainland China

In the People's Republic of China the national legal age of consent for sexual activity is 14 years, regardless of gender and/or sexual orientation.[citation needed]. However, most provinces have ordinances that prohibit "immoral sexual acts" or "promiscuity" with female minors. The phrases "immoral sexual acts" and "promiscuity" are not strictly defined. It is mainly used to prevent female minors from engaging in prostitution, with a special clause provisioning for "Whoring girls aged under 24."[citation needed] However, consensual sex with a female partner under 14 is not criminally punished where the male partner is under 17(included). In fact, sexual activity is increasingly common among underage teenagers, especially in urban areas.[citation needed] As a result, underage pregnancies are seen more and more often, most of which end with abortion, since the parents are unable to marry. Premarital sex is generally unacceptable culturally;[citation needed] however, these perceptions are changing, especially among younger generations.

[edit] Georgia

The age of consent in Georgia is 16.[12]

[edit] India

India's age of consent for heterosexual sex is 16, except in the state of Manipur, where it is 14. If the partners are married to each other they may legally engage in sexual activity at a lower age (13 in Manipur and 15 elsewhere). [16] The Kerala High Court, in 2004, succeeded in recommending the state government increase the age of consent to 18. The Law Commission of India, has recommended the federal government raise the age of consent of married person to 16 from 15.[13] However, none of those proposals have been considered by any of the (federal / state) legislatures till date. [17] An old British-era law banning "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" was used to prosecute people for having anal or oral sex, though prosecutions are rare. That law (Section 377, Indian Penal Code Act 1860) is currently under constitutional challenge at the Delhi High Court for violating the human rights of sexual minorities. But after the Delhi High Court's Judgement on the issue, the age of consent for consensual homosexual sex is 18. [18] See LGBT rights in India[.[14][15]

[edit] Indonesia

In Indonesia the age of consent for heterosexual sexual activity is 19 years for males and 16 years for females.[16] The age of consent for homosexuals is 18.

[edit] Israel

According to Israeli's law list (1977), the age of consent in Israel is 16 for any form of sex. Sexual relationships are allowed from ages 14–16, as long as the male is less than 3 years older than the female, and both sides agree and do it willingly (example: a 17 year old male may have sex with a 14 year old female, and an 18 year old male may have sex with 15 year old female).[17]

[edit] Japan

The national age of consent in Japan is 13 as specified by the Japanese Penal Code Articles 176 and 177.[18] However, prefectures can have ordinances that prohibit sexual activities with any minor under 18.[citation needed] 'Indecency through compulsion', Art. 176 Penal Code 'A person who, through violence or intimidation, commits an indecent act upon a male or female person of not less than thirteen (13) years of age shall be punished with imprisonment at forced labour for not less than six months nor more than seven years. The same shall apply to a person who commits an indecent act upon a male or female person under thirteen (13) years of age.'.[19] ‘Rape’, Art. 177 Penal Code 'A person who, through violence or intimidation, has sexual intercourse with a female person of not less than thirteen (13) years of age commits the crime of rape and shall be punished with imprisonment at forced labour for a limited term of not less than two years. 'The same shall apply to a person who has sexual intercourse with a 'female person under thirteen (13) years of age'.[20]

[edit] Kazakhstan

The age of consent in Kazakhstan is 18 years, regardless of gender and/or sexual orientation.[21]

[edit] Kuwait

The age of consent in Kuwait is 15 for girls and 17 for boys.[22]

[edit] Laos

The age of consent in Laos is 15.[23] Article 129, Penal Code An individual that has sexual relations with a girl or a boy whose age is under fifteen (15) will be imprisoned from one (1) to five (5) years, and fined from two (2) to five (5) million kips.[24]

[edit] Malaysia

The age of consent for sex in Malaysia is 16 for both males and females.[25] Section 375 Rape. A man is said to commit "rape" who, except in the case hereinafter excepted, has sexual intercourse with a woman under circumstances falling under any of the following descriptions: (...) Sixthly - With or without her consent, when she is under sixteen years of age.[26]

[edit] Mongolia

The age of consent in Mongolia is 16, regardless of gender and/or sexual orientation.[27] Article 110. Sexual intercourse with a person below the age of 16 years shall be punished to imprisonment for a term not to exceeding 3 years or to correctional work not exceeding 1 years and 6 months.[28]

[edit] Nepal

The age of consent in Nepal is 16.[29]

[edit] North Korea

There is currently no legal age of consent in North Korea.[citation needed]

[edit] Oman

Oman has no laws regarding the age of consent, but sex cannot be legally performed outside of marriage.[30]

[edit] Philippines

The age of consent in the Philippines is 18. Sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 12 is defined as rape: Chapter ThreeRape "Article 266-A. Rape: When And How Committed. - Rape is committed: "1) By a man who shall have carnal knowledge of a woman under any of the following circumstances: "a) Through force, threat, or intimidation; "b) When the offended party is deprived of reason or otherwise unconscious; "c) By means of fraudulent machination or grave abuse of authority; and "d) When the offended party is under twelve (12) years of age or is demented, even though none of the circumstances mentioned above be present.[31] In regard to children aged 12–18, the law reads (any person under 18 is considered a child): Article III, Section 5. Child Prostitution and Other Sexual Abuse. Children, whether male or female, who for money, profit, or any other consideration or due to the coercion or influence of any adult, syndicate or group, indulge in sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct, are deemed to be children exploited in prostitution and other sexual abuse.[32] If an adult has sex with a child 12-18, it can be considered that the child did so because of the influence of an adult (even if there was no coercion).

[edit] Qatar

Any kind of sexual activity outside marriage is illegal.[citation needed] Like Saudi Arabia, Qatar has no age limit for marriage, but the consent of the parents must be given before marriage.[33]

[edit] Russian Federation

Currently the age of consent in Russia is 16. See Russian Federation's entry at Ages of consent in Europe

[edit] Saudi Arabia

Any kind of sexual activity outside marriage is illegal in Saudi Arabia, but there is no restriction on the age of marriage.[34] For instance, in 2008 a Saudi court refused to annul a marriage between an 8 year old girl and a 58 year old man.[35] A prohibition on marriage under the age of 14 was being considered by the Ministry of Justice in late 2008. According to cleric Ahmad Al-Mu’bi, the appropriate minimum age for sex "varies according to environment and traditions."[34]

[edit] Singapore

The age of consent in Singapore is 16 for all opposite-sex activity and only female same-sex sexual activity: Section 140: (1) Any person who - (...) (i) has carnal connection with any girl below the age of 16 years except by way of marriage (...) - shall be guilty of an offence. [36] Under section 377A (outrages on decency) in the Penal Code states that; Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years. This means that all male same-sex sexual activity (including mutual masturbation, oral and/or anal sex) is still illegal and the punishment is up to two (2) years jail. However, this law is rarely enforced.[citation needed]

[edit] South Korea

According to section 305 of the criminal law of South Korea [37] it is a criminal offense to have sexual intercourse with a minor under the age of 13.
According to part of the Protection of Minors from Sexual Exploitation Law [38], it is a criminal offense to coerce a minor under the age of 19 to a sexual act.
Culturally it is not accepted to have sexual act with a minor under the age of 19 even with the consent of the minor at the age of 13 or above, as evidenced by surprise and uproar when a man was acquitted of sexual relationship with a 16-year old teenage runaway in 2001. [39]

[edit] Taiwan

The age of consent in Taiwan (formally known as the Republic of China) is 16 regardless of sex. The sentence is reduced or exempted if the offender is under 19. If the offender is under 18, it's an offense indictable only upon complaint.[40]

[edit] Tajikistan

The age of consent in Tajikistan is 17 regardless of gender and/or sexual orientation.[41]

[edit] Thailand

The age of consent in Thailand is 15 (with the below caveat) as specified by article 279 of the Thai Criminal Code. The current legislation applies to all regardless of gender and/or sexual orientation, although it is a common misconception that it applies only to women.[citation needed] However parts of the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act which disallow any sexual contact with prostitutes under the age of 18, are widely interpreted by some local authorities to cover sexual acts classed as "obscenity for personal gratification". Also from the Penal Code Amendment Act of 1997 Section 283bis, having sex with a child under 18 is a compoundable offense even with the consent of that person. The parent or the child may file charges against the other side if he or she later regrets his or her own action. This ostensibly makes the Thai unfettered age of consent 18. A high profile example of this application of the law was a statutory rape charge filed against the lead singer of the Thai band Big Ass for allegedly having had sex with a (then) 16 year old girl. The charge was filed by the girl after the singer refused to take responsibility for her baby. The singer has since been cleared of being the baby's father due to the results of a paternity test and he received 2 years suspended sentence.[42][43]

[edit] Turkey

The age of consent in Turkey is the age of majority (set at 18), as specified by the 2004 Turkish Penal Code. The legislation applies to all, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender.

[edit] Turkmenistan

The age of consent in Turkmenistan is 16.[44]

[edit] Uzbekistan

The age of consent in Uzbekistan is 16 for heterosexual males (oral sex for homosexual males) and both lesbian and heterosexual females.[45] Only male homosexual anal intercourse is punishable with imprisonment for up to 3 years (called Besoqolbozlik).[citation needed] Sexual relations with a person under sixteen (16) years of age, Clause 128 of the Criminal Code: (1) A sexual relation or satisfaction of sex requirements in the unnatural form with a person who was obviously less than sixteen (16) years old, shall be punished by corrective labour measures for up to two (2) years or by the arrest up to six (6) months, or with imprisonment for up to three (3) years.[46]

[edit] Vietnam

The age of consent in Vietnam is 16. Section 4 of article 112 of the Penal Code states that "All cases of having sexual intercourse with children under 13 years old are considered rape against children and the offenders shall be sentenced to between twelve and twenty years of imprisonment, life imprisonment or capital punishment."[47] Article 115 further provides for imprisonment for 1 to 5 years for sexual intercourse with persons aged 13 to 16.[48] Article 115.- Having sexual intercourse with children 1.Any adults having sexual intercourse with children aged from full 13 to under 16 shall be sentenced to between one and five years of imprisonment.[49]

[edit] Yemen

Any kind of sexual activity outside marriage is illegal in Yemen. Until recently, Yemeni law set the age of consent at 15. But tribal customs and interpretations of Islam often trump the law. In practice, "Yemeni law allows girls of any age to wed, but it forbids sex with them until the indefinite time they’re 'suitable for sexual intercourse.'" [50] In 1999, the minimum marriage age of fifteen for women, rarely enforced, was abolished; the onset of puberty, interpreted by conservatives to be at the age of nine, was set as a requirement for consummation of marriage.[51] In April 2008, the case of Nujood Ali, a 10 year-old girl who successfully obtained a divorce, sparked headlines around the world, and prompted calls to raise the legal age for marriage to 18.[52] Later in 2008, the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood proposed to define the minimum age for marriage at 18 years. The law was passed in April 2009, but dropped the following day following manouvers by opposing parliamentarians. Negotiations to pass the legislation continue.[53]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/archive/10334/
^ [1]
^ http://www.buddybuddy.com/consent.html
^ http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/csaBhutan.pdf
^ [2]
^ http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/csaMyanmar.pdf
^ [3]
^ a b "Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200) s.124". HKLII. http://www.hklii.org/hk/legis/en/ord/200/s124.html. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
^ a b "Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200) s.123". HKLII. http://www.hklii.org/hk/legis/en/ord/200/s123.html. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
^ "Crimes Ordinance (Cap. 200) s.118C". HKLII. http://www.hklii.org/hk/legis/en/ord/200/s118c.html. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
^ "CACV No. 317 of 2005". http://legalref.judiciary.gov.hk/lrs/common/search/search_result_detail_frame.jsp?DIS=54227&QS=%2B&TP=JU&currpage=T.
^ http://www.ihf-hr.org/viewbinary/viewdocument.php?doc_id=2059
^ Love-making with girl or wife below 16 years a crime: Panel-India-The Times of India
^ Laws - IPC - Section 375
^ Infochange India News Features Agenda Who is a child?
^ http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/csaIndonesia.asp Sexual Offences Laws - Indonesia - Interpol
^ http://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%97%D7%95%D7%A7_%D7%94%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%9F
^ "Sexual Offenses Laws of Japan". The Website of Interpol. http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/csaJapan.asp. Retrieved 2009-03-08.
^ [4]
^ [5]
^ http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/csaKazakhstan.pdf (Art. 122)
^ http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/2f5665ae20b956cb8025675a0033cafb?Opendocument
^ Joe Cummings, Andrew Burke. Lonely Planet Guide to Laos, p. 256
^ [6]
^ http://www.pdfdownload.org/pdf2html/pdf2html.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.interpol.int%2FPublic%2FChildren%2FSexualAbuse%2FNationalLaws%2FcsaMalaysia.pdf&images=yes Sexual Offences Laws - Malaysia - Interpol
^ [7]
^ Microsoft Word - MONGOLIA TEMPLATE START.doc
^ [8]
^ [9]
^ http://www.interpol.com/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/csaOman.pdf
^ [10]
^ [11]
^ Frank. "eastgarden Qatar". Archived from the original on 2009-10-24. http://www.webcitation.org/5kmDDqvgo.
^ a b Muhammad Odhaib, Move to ban underage marriages, Saudi Gazette, 1 January 2009.
^ Saudi court tells girl aged EIGHT she cannot divorce husband who is 50 years her senior, Daily Mail, 22 December 2008.
^ [12]
^ http://ko.wikisource.org/wiki/%EB%8C%80%ED%95%9C%EB%AF%BC%EA%B5%AD_%ED%98%95%EB%B2%95#305
^ http://ko.wikisource.org/wiki/%EC%B2%AD%EC%86%8C%EB%85%84%EC%9D%98_%EC%84%B1%EB%B3%B4%ED%98%B8%EC%97%90_%EA%B4%80%ED%95%9C_%EB%B2%95%EB%A5%A0
^ http://www.donga.com/fbin/output?n=200108310204
^ ROC Criminal Law, Article 227, 227-1 229-1
^ http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/CsaTajikistan.pdf
^ "DNA test clears 'Dag'". 2006-05-20. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/05/20/national/national_30004480.php.
^ "Popular rocker given suspended jail term for having sex with underage girl". 2007-03-30. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30029866.
^ http://www.interpol.com/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/csaTurkmenistan.pdf
^ http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/csaUzbekistan.pdf
^ [13]
^ http://www.worldlii.org/vn/legis/pc66/s112.html
^ http://www.worldlii.org/vn/legis/pc66/s115.html
^ [14]
^ Power, Carla (12 August 2009), Nujood Ali & Shada Nasser win “Women of the Year Fund 2008 Glamour Award”, Yemen Times, http://www.yementimes.com/DefaultDET.aspx?i=1207&p=report&a=1, retrieved 16 February 2010
^ Human Rights Watch (2001), "Yemen: Human Rights Developments", World Report 2001, Human Rights Watch, http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/mideast/yemen.html, retrieved 8 April 2010
^ Daragahi, Borzou (June 11, 2008), Yemeni bride, 10, says I won't, Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/11/world/fg-childbride11, retrieved 16 February 2010
^ Mahmoud Assamiee and Nadia Al-Sakkaf (25 March 2010), Relative breakthrough in Yemen’s early marriage dilemma, Yemen Times, http://www.yementimes.com/defaultdet.aspx?SUB_ID=33771, retrieved 8 April 2010

[hide]

Sexual ethics


Human sexuality	Adultery· Incest (law)· Miscegenation (interracial relations)· Pregnancy (Abortion)· Prostitution (law)· Sex education· Sexual objectification· Sexual orientation

Children	Child sexuality· Child pornography (law)· Prostitution of children· Child sex tourism· Child marriage

Adolescence	Adolescent sexuality· Teenage pregnancy (Teenage pregnancy and sexual health in the United Kingdom; Global incidence of teenage pregnancy)· Virginity pledge

Sexual abuse	Sexual harassment· Rape (law)· Child sexual abuse (Laws regarding child sexual abuse)· Child-on-child sexual abuse

Sex and the law	Reproductive rights· Age of consent reform· Criminal transmission of HIV· Statutory rape· Child grooming· ****** law· Zoophilia

Age of consent	Africa· Asia· Oceania· Europe· North America· South America

List of topics in sexual ethics

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Asia"

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AGES OF CONSENT IN AFRICA

eightdogs — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 01:04:56 CDT

AGES OF CONSENT IN AFRICA

Ages of consent in Africa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Main article: Age of consent

Age of consent laws for heterosexual sex Worldwide

The ages of consent for sexual activity vary by jurisdiction across Africa. The specific activity engaged in or the gender of its participants can also be affected by the law. Below is a discussion of the various laws dealing with this subject. The highlighted age refers to an age at or above which an individual can engage in unfettered sexual relations with another who is also at or above that age. Other variables, for example homosexual and/or ****** provision(s) that are illegal or close in age exceptions may exist and are noted when relevant. Most countries in Africa have no age of consent.

[edit] Algeria

The age of consent in Algeria is 16 for vaginal intercourse. "Heterosexual ******" (anal and/or oral sex with an opposite-sex partner) is illegal {Article 388 of the Penal Code}. As well as all same-sex sexual conduct {Article 338} and "outrages to public decency" {Article 333}. The punishment for both the first two activities with those under 18 years of age is more severe for the older participant. [citation needed]

[edit] Angola

The age of consent in Angola is 12.[1][2] However, "sexual relations with a child between the ages of 12 and 17 can be considered sexual abuse"[3].

[edit] Benin

The age of consent is 15 for women and 18 for men.[4]

[edit] Botswana

The age of consent is 16 for females and 14 for males, but male homosexuality is punishable by 7 years imprisonment. [5]

[edit] Burundi

Under the new Penal Code of 2009 (in French), the age of consent in Burundi for heterosexuals (both men and women) is 18 years [2]. However, under Article 567, homosexual acts (both men and women) carry a fine of up to 100,000 Burundian francs and up to 3 years imprisonment [3].

[edit] Cameroon

The age of consent is 16.[6]

[edit] Cape Verde

The age of consent in Cape Verde is 16 years, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender.[citation needed].

[edit] Comoros

The age of consent in the Comoros is 13.[7]

[edit] Democratic Republic of the Congo

Law 09/001 of 10 January 2009 set the age of consent at 18.[8]

[edit] Djibouti

The age of consent is 18.[9]

[edit] Egypt

The age of consent in Egypt is 18 years, for heterosexual males and females, sex work is illegal and the sex work law has been used against male and female homosexuals [10].

[edit] Gambia

The age of consent is 18.[11]

[edit] Ghana

The age of consent is 16.[12]

[edit] Kenya

The age of consent in Kenya is 16 years, for heterosexual males, females and female homosexuals. Male homosexuals get 25 years in prison. [10].

[edit] Libya

The age of consent is 16 for women and 18 for men.[13]

[edit] Madagascar

Age of consent is 14 years, according to article 331 in the Criminal Law. In certain cases, including relatives and homosexuals, it is 21 years.Droit francophone: Code Pénal du 17 juin 1972 mis à jour au 30 juin 1998

[edit] Mozambique

The age of consent is 16.[14]

[edit] Mauritania

The age of consent is 15.[9]

[edit] Mauritius

The age of consent is 16 unless the man is over 18 and in that case the age consent for the women is 18.

[edit] *****

Article 284 of the ***** legal code sets the age of consent at 13 years.[15]

[edit] Senegal

The age of consent for marriage in Senegal is 13.[16]

[edit] Sierra Leone

The age of consent is 14.[17]

[edit] South Africa

Since 1 January 2008, the age of consent in South Africa is 16 years, regardless of sexual orientation and gender.

[edit] Tunisia

The age of consent in Tunisia is 20 [18]

[edit] Rwanda

The age of consent in Rwanda is 18 years, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender.[10]

[edit] Uganda

The age of consent in Uganda is 18 years, for vaginal intercourse. "Heterosexual ******" (anal and/or oral sex with an opposite-sex partner) is illegal and can lead to prison[10] as for all same-sex sexual conduct (males and female), face life imprisonment [citation needed].

[edit] Zambia

The age of consent is 16.[19]

[edit] Zimbabwe

The age of consent in Zimbabwe is 16 years for heterosexual males, females and lesbian females. Having sex with a minor gives rise to charges of statutory rape. Case law gives guidance to the years of imprisonment, with age difference between participants playing a role in sentencing (usually between 12 to 16). [citation needed]. All male same-sex hand-holding and/or male same-sex sexual conduct can lead to one year's imprisonment

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ http://books.google.com/books?id=n9E0UCBOTXQC&pg=PA145
^ http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/rwinslow/africa/angola.html
^ http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/rwinslow/africa/angola.html
^ http://www.protectionproject.org/human_rights_reports/report_documents/benin.doc
^ http://www.ageofconsent.com/botswana.htm
^ http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/iwraw/publications/countries/cameroon.htm
^ http://www.comores-droit.com/code/penal
^ [1]
^ a b http://books.google.com/books?id=V1rogCrcOMwC&pg=PA91
^ a b c d "Legislation of INTERPOL member states on sexual offences against children" (HTML). INTERPOL. http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/.
^ Knowing our rights By Women Living Under Muslim Laws (Organization), International Solidarity Network. p.125.
^ http://www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=ghana&id=259
^ http://books.google.com/books?id=PaBddjB2BYIC&pg=PA145
^ http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/rwinslow/africa/mozambique.html
^ http://juriniger.lexum.umontreal.ca/juriniger/publication.do?publicationId=814
^ Knowing our rights By Women Living Under Muslim Laws (Organization), International Solidarity Network, p. 124
^ http://books.google.com/books?id=9jTt5yJ1Qz8C&pg=PA165
^ "What is a 'right' age of consent?". BBC News. 1 October 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3699814.stm. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
^ http://www.ageofconsent.com/zambia.htm

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Africa"

Categories: African society | Sexuality and age
Hidden categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from April 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements from March 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements from November 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements from February 2007

Statistics

eightdogs — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 00:06:08 CDT

THE RATE OF CHILD ABUSE IN AUSTRALIA....

1. Prevalence
Child abuse remains prevalent, even today. The question remains: how prevalent? The social stigma around child abuse means that it gets swept under the carpet time and again. We know how many cases of abuse are being reported and how many cases are substantiated each year. However, it is impossible to know how many children are being abused every day but are too afraid to say anything.

In response to the growing awareness around child abuse, several laws have been set in place to protect children from further abuse. In every state in Australia mandatory reporting laws have been introduced (Higgins, Bromfield, & Richardson, 2007). These laws mandate that professionals who work with children are legally obliged to make a report about any child they suspect is in danger of abuse. These laws differ state-by-state, but are in place Australia-wide in some form. In spite of mandatory reporting laws, statistics suggest that child abuse remains prevalent.

In 2006-7, a total of 309,517 suspected cases of child abuse and neglect were reported. A total of 58,563 of these cases were substantiated (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2008). The report found that girls were about three times more likely to be the subject of a substantiated sexual abuse claim than boys, but boys were generally more likely to be the subject of a substantiated claim of physical abuse than girls. In addition, the rates of substantiated abuse or neglect decreased as age increased (Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2008).

The prevalence of child abuse is flagged by many other indicators. One of these is the numbers of calls to the Kid’s Help Line. Kid’s Help Line is a free, confidential and anonymous 24 hour counselling service for children and young people aged 5-25. Of calls made to the Kid’s Help Line, “Worry about a family member” was the most common reason for the call. Five % of calls were about child abuse or neglect (Kid’s Help Line, 2006).

A study by Draper et al. (2007) found that of 21,000 people over the age of 60 from 5 Australian states, 6.7% reported having been physically abused, 6.5% sexually, 10% reported either and 3% both (Draper et al., 2007). Research on a sample of randomly selected Australian women revealed that 20% of participants had experienced childhood sexual abuse (Fleming, 1997). Of those women, 71% were aged less than 12 years at the time of their abuse and only 10% of cases were ever reported. Andrews, Gould and Corry (2002) reported on the overall findings of seven studies and found that 5.1% of males and 27.5% of females had experienced some level of child sexual abuse.

Statistics suggest that child abuse is on the rise, but reporting may have increased rather than there being an actual increase in incidence. Perhaps adults are simply more aware of the warning signs of abuse now than ever before.

2. The Common Story
Andrews et al. (2002), who reported on the overall findings of seven studies, found that the onset of sexual abuse occurred at a mean age of 10. In 75% of cases the offender was known to the child, and in 40% of cases a family member was the offender.

A study by Palmer, Brown, Rae-Grant, & Loughin (2001) with 384 survivors of childhood abuse identified that most survivors reported a combination of abuse types: physical, emotional and sexual (45%); physical and emotional (21%); sexual and emotional (17%); sexual only (11%) and emotional only (6%). Survivors who could recall the age of onset of the abuse had been very young (between 4 and 6). The reported perpetrator were biological fathers (34%), biological mothers (19%), stepfathers, adoptive fathers and foster fathers (8%); stepmothers, adoptive mothers and foster mothers (5%); both parents equally (7%); other relative (14%); and siblings (10%).

A study by van Loon & Kralik (2005a) with female survivors of child sexual abuse found that the life of child sexual abuse survivors is often interwoven with emotional abuse and physical violence. Many participants in this study experienced assaults within their childhood families. These were usually not isolated events, but rather were sustained patterns of Behaviour, endured over many years. Most women recalled their earliest memories of sexual abuse between the ages of 5 and 8 years. Participants’ backgrounds varied across rural, remote and metropolitan settings and all social strata were represented, including professional, paraprofessional and working class families. There was an over-representation of perpetrators who were in positions of legally sanctioned authority. The participants in this study reported compounding social issues within the childhood family that included fragmentation of the family through divorce, family violence, alcohol and drug addictions, and mental illness. In most cases the family presented to the outside world as “normal”. Family relationships were characterised by intimidation, fear, shame, blame, secrecy and isolation, to avoid exposing the family to scrutiny. The victims were silenced by fear of the consequences of divulging the family secret. Perpetrators made excuses to avoid taking responsibility for their abusive actions and most commonly the child was blamed for somehow provoking, or enjoying the abuse. Unfortunately when children do tell, and the offending perpetrator denies their actions, it is often the perpetrator who is believed rather than the child. If the adult to whom the child discloses does not take any action the child may conclude that he/she is not worthwhile, or must be to blame. It reinforces the child’s distrust of adults and causes more entrenched silence, isolation, internalised anger, which quickly leads to despair and possibly to mental illness. Survivors suggest that while children need to be educated about stranger danger, most abuse is perpetrated by a person the child knows. Consequently the child also needs to be taught to say ‘no’ to uninvited and unwanted behaviours. However children find it almost impossible to have a voice to which their perpetrator/s will listen (van Loon & Kralik, 2005a).

3. What is Child Abuse?
Child abuse is any act by parents, caregivers or guardians that endangers a child’s physical or emotional health or development. Child abuse can be a single incident, but usually takes place over time (Richardson, 2004).

Definitions of abuse remain ambiguous. What is abusive behaviour for one person is not necessarily abusive to another. Acceptability around behaviour varies widely from one social group to another (Tucci, Saunders, & Goddard, 2002) and from culture to culture (Korbin, 1991). That said, some behaviours are objectively deleterious to the healthy development of a child regardless of the definition of the abuse or the culture. Although the definition of abuse remains contentious, it is common practice to talk about five different types of abuse:

Physical Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Emotional/ Psychological Abuse
Neglect (Bromfield & Holzer, 2007)
Witnessing family violence (James, 1994)
It is important to note that children are often exposed to harmful behaviours from one or more of these categories of abuse (Higgins & McCabe, 2000). The nature of the abuse and the duration of exposure of harmful behaviours may affect the long-term effects of the abuse into adulthood (Higgins, 2004). Nonetheless, the type and duration of abuse are not the only factors determining the long-term effects of the abuse. A number of factors which impact resilience should also be considered (this will be explored under ‘resilience’).

Physical Abuse
Child physical abuse takes place when a parent or caregiver causes physical injury deliberately by punching, hitting, kicking, beating, biting, burning, shaking or otherwise harming a child (Richardson, 2004).

There is still a lot of debate around whether physical or corporal punishment of children by parents, caregivers or teachers, such as smacking, should be defined as child abuse. All states and territories legally allow a parent or guardian to administer reasonable physical punishment to a child (Tucci et al., 2002). However, laws prohibit parents from hitting children on the head or causing pain for more than a short period of time (Tucci et al., 2002).

Corporal punishment has been banned in government schools by legislation throughout Australia (Richardson, 2004).

Sexual Abuse
A commonly used definition of sexual abuse is: Any sexual activity between a child and an adult or older person (5 or more years older). Sexual activity can include any sexual behaviour including forcing children to watch pornography.

It has been noted that definitions including an age range rule out forced sexual activity between adolescents, for example date rape which would also be considered sexually abusive behaviour (Richardson, 2004).

Psychological or Emotional Abuse
The core issue of emotional (or psychological) abuse is that it is a sustained pattern of verbal abuse and harassment by an adult that results in damaging a child’s self esteem or social competence.

Although it is possible for ‘one-off’ incidents to cause serious harm, in general it is the frequency, persistence and duration of the parent or guardian’s behaviour that is instrumental in defining the consequences for the child. This may include rejecting, isolating, terrorising, ignoring or corrupting (Garbarino, 1978).

Neglect
Neglect refers to a consistent pattern of behaviours that involve failure to provide for a child’s basic needs. This category also includes fatalities that can be attributed to a caregiver’s neglect of the child’s needs (Lawrence & Irvine, 2004).

Categories of neglect include: Failure to meet the physical needs of the child: nutrition, hygiene, living environment and/ or supervision. Also: medical neglect, desertion, emotional neglect or educational neglect (Tomison, 1995).

Witnessing Family Violence
Witnessing family violence is generally considered to be a form of psychological abuse. However, there is growing support for the inclusion of family violence as a distinct maltreatment sub-type (James, 1994). Witnessing family violence, especially one’s mother being battered by one’s father, is clearly abusive and has been related to subsequent psychological disturbances (Briere, 1992).

Other Forms of Abuse:
Parental alcoholism and/or drug addiction is sometimes viewed as a distinct maltreatment sub-type (Briere, 1992).

Institutional abuse is sometimes viewed as a distinct maltreatment sub-type (ASCA, 2006).

Extreme poverty and homelessness are also sometimes viewed as a form of child abuse (Briere, 1992).

Other forms of childhood trauma:

Trauma is not limited to surviving life-threatening experiences. For a young person, trauma may be experienced in the form of separation from parents, looking into the eyes of a depressed mother, or being in a household with high level marital tension. For an adolescent, chronic stress and trauma may come from the incessant teasing of peers or taking care of the needs of an alcoholic parent (Cozolino, 2002). It seems that even an unborn child can experience stress as the result of the shared biological environment with its mother (Cozolino, 2002). Tests have found that foetuses express a biological response indicative of a stress response well before birth (Gunnar, 1998).

In a longitudinal study by Cogill, Caplan, Alexandra, Robson, & Kumar (1986),

94 women with mental health issues took part both before pregnancy and after they gave birth. Their first child’s cognitive function was tested at age 4. Significant intellectual deficits were found in the children whose mothers had suffered depression, but only when this depression occurred in the first year of the child's life. Marital conflict and a history of paternal psychiatric problems were also linked independently with lower cognitive test scores. Together with a working class home background these were the only factors that contributed significantly to the deleterious effect of maternal postnatal depression.

Various types of cruelty and deprivation provide a vast store of negative childhood experiences that, in turn, have significant impacts on the later mental health of millions of people (Briere, 1992).

INFORMATION FROM ASCA

ADULTS SURVIVING CHILD ABUSE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Resource Sheet No.1
Updated March 2009

Child abuse and neglect statistics

Compiled by Leah Bromfield & Mel Irenyi
National Child Protection Clearinghouse
Published by the Australian Institute of Family Studies
ISSN 1448-9112 (Online)

You can access this resource sheet in HTML or PDF (240 KB) format. You will need an Acrobat Reader which is free from the Adobe Systems Web site .

In this resource sheet we present and discuss a snapshot of data describing child protection activity in Australia.

In Australia, state and territory governments have the statutory responsibility for protecting children from child abuse and neglect. Definitions of what constitutes child abuse and neglect vary across the different states and territories. It is therefore difficult to obtain consistent and comparable national statistics. (For more information on this, refer to Resource Sheet No. 12, Australian Legal Definitions: When is a Child in Need of Protection?).

Since 1990, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has compiled annual national figures for child protection activity. The 2009 AIHW statistics can be found at www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10687

How many reports are made to child protection services in Australia each year?

The most recent national figures from the AIHW indicate that in Australia, during 2007-08, there were 317,526 reports of suspected child abuse and neglect made to state and territory authorities.

While the number of notifications increased, the increase observed was not as great as that observed between previous reporting periods. In fact, the increase observed between 2006-07 and 2007-08 is the smallest national increase recorded for total notifications over the past 10 years. Figure 1 illustrates the trends in total notifications recorded across Australia from 1998-99 to 2007-08. Table 1 contains the numbers plotted in Figure 1.

Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2009)

Notes: (a) The Northern Territory could not provide substantiation data in 1998-99. (b) Due to the implementation of a new information management system, New South Wales could not provide data for investigations, substantiations, or children on orders in 2003-04. (c) Due to the implementation of a new information management system, Queensland was unable to provide investigation data in 2006-07. The figures do not necessarily mean that the amount of child abuse and neglect that occurs in the community has increased over this time, but they do show that the reporting of cases to child protection services has increased.

Figure 1. Total number of notifications, investigations and substantiations across Australia from 1998-99 to 2007-08, and total number of children on orders and in out-of-home care at 30 June 1999 to 2008

A child may be the subject of more than one notification - in 2007-08, the 317,526 notifications recorded during the financial year concerned 194,937 children. Nationally, notifications were most commonly made by members of the police force, followed by school personnel, and hospital/health centre staff (AIHW, 2009).

Table 1: Total number of notifications, investigations and substantiations across Australia from 1998-99 to 2007-08, and total number of children on orders and in out-of-home care at 30 June 1999 to 2008

	Total notifications	Total finalised investigations	Total substantiations	Children on orders	Children in OOHC
1998-99	103,302	50,009	(a)	17,881	15,674
1999-00	107,134	47,007	24,732	19,262	16,923
2000-01	115,471	66,265	27,367	19,917	18,241
2001-02	137,938	80,371	30,473	20,557	18,880
2002-03	198,355	95,382	40,416	22,130	20,297
2003-04	219,384	(b)	(b)	(b)	21,795
2004-05	252,831	121,292	46,154	25,065	23,695
2005-06	266,745	137,829	55,921	27,188	25,454
2006-07	309,448	(c)	60,230	29,641	28,379
2007-08	317,526	148,824	55,120	34,279	31,166

Source: AIHW (2009)

How many reports are investigated by child protection services in Australia each year?

The total number of finalised investigations increased in 2007-08, with 148,824 total finalised investigations recorded across Australia (AIHW, 2009). Due to the implementation of a new information management system, Queensland was not able to provide data on the number of finalised investigations in 2006-07, thus a national total could not be calculated for the 2006-07 financial year. However, the 2007-08 figure is an increase of 8% on the number of finalised investigations recorded in 2005-06 (137,829), and a 198% increase on the number of finalised investigations recorded in 1998-99 (50,009) (see Figure 1).

How many confirmed cases of abuse and neglect are there in Australia each year?

The pattern for total substantiations in 2007-08 differed from the pattern observed for notifications and investigations. The total number of substantiations (of notifications received in 2007-08) across Australia was 55,120. This is an 8% decrease on the number of substantiations recorded in the previous financial year (60,230). The 55,120 notifications recorded during the financial year concerned 32,098 children.

The decrease in the total number of substantiations recorded in Australia was the first decrease recorded for total substantiations over the past 10 years. As can be seen from Figure 1, overall, the number of total substantiations increased between 1999-00 and 2007-08 (by approximately 123%). The decrease in substantiations was also not present in all jurisdictions - Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory all recorded increases in total substantiations recorded for 2007-08 (see Table 2). As the AIHW (2009) observed, further years' data are necessary to determine whether the decrease in 2007-08 will be a continuing pattern.

Table 2: Number of substantiations, states and territories, 1999-2000 to 2007-08

Year	NSW(a)	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas(b)	ACT	NT	Total
1998-99	7,540	7,251	6,373	1,215	2,114	128	442	n.a.	n.a.
1999-00	6,477	7,359	6,919	1,169	2,085	97	233	393	24,732
2000-01	7,501	7,608	8,395	1,191	1,998	103	222	349	27,367
2001-02	8,606	7,687	10,036	1,187	2,230	158	220	349	30,473
2002-03	16,765	7,287	12,203	888(c)	2,423	213	310	327	40,416
2003-04	n.a.	7,412	17,473	968	2,490	427	630(d)	527	n.a.
2004-05	15,493	7,398	17,307	1,104	2,384	782	1,213	473	46,154
2005-06	29,809	7,563	13,184	960	1,855	793(e)	1,277	480	55,921
2006-07	37,094	6,828(f)	10,108(g)(h)	1,233	2,242	1,252(e)	852(i)	621	60,230
2007-08	34,135	6,365	8,028	1,464	2,331	1,214	827	756	55,120

(a) The data for 2002-03 onwards should not be compared with previous years. New South Wales implemented a modification to the data system to support legislation and practice changes during 2002-03 which would make any comparison inaccurate. New South Wales was able to provide limited data for 2003-04 due to the introduction of a new client information system. (b) The increase in substantiations in Tasmania is considered to be in part due to increased application of the Tasmanian Risk Framework as well as greater adherence to the definition of 'substantiation' published by the AIHW. (c) The decrease in substantiations in 2002-03 reflects the decrease in notifications in Western Australia. (d) The increase in substantiations in 2003-04 relates to the increase in notifications in the ACT. (e) Data relating to substantiations for Tasmania for 2005-06 and 2006-07 should be interpreted carefully due to the high proportion of investigations in process by 31 August (see Table 2.1). (f) Due to new service and data reporting arrangements, the Victorian child protection data for 2006-07 may not be fully comparable with previous years' data. (g) 2006-07 data for Queensland was updated in 2008. Data is different to the interim data published in Child Protection Australia 2006-07. (h) 2006-07 substantiation figures for Queensland are affected by a change in recording practice. From March 2007, any new child protection concerns received by the department that relate to an open notification or investigation and assessment are recorded as an additional concern and linked to the open notification/investigation and assessment. Previously, any new child protection concerns received by the department were recorded as an additional notification. If an investigation relating to these notifications was substantiated, each notification was recorded as a separate substantiation. Because new concerns are now recorded as additional concerns and not notifications, only the original notification is counted as a substantiation, where the investigation outcome is substantiated. (i) The decrease in the number of substantiated investigations reflects a requirement of staff to substantiate emotional abuse or neglect only if there was, or is likely to be, significant harm and there was no-one with parental responsibility willing and able to protect the child/young person. Recording an outcome of an appraisal as not substantiated does not exclude ongoing work with the child or young person.

Notes

(1) Data may include unborn children. (2) Data is not reported for Tasmania for unborn children since the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1997 does not currently enable Tasmania to accept reports on unborn children. It is anticipated that such reports will be able to be accepted from July 2009 following an amendment to the current act.

Source: AIHW, 2009, p. 25; AIHW, 2001, p. 15

What are the most common types of child maltreatment?

Substantiations are categorised into one of four maltreatment types: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse and neglect. Table 3 shows the breakdown of substantiations for the four different types of maltreatment in Australian states and territories. In New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory emotional abuse was the most commonly substantiated maltreatment type. In Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory neglect was the most commonly substantiated maltreatment type, however emotional abuse was the second most common type of maltreatment substantiated.

Table 3. Primary substantiated maltreatment types in Australian states and territories in 2007-08

	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Australia
Emotional abuse	13,106	2,814	2,955	304	1,106	429	382	214	21,310
Neglect	10,429	634	2,286	621	881	491	314	260	15,916
Physical abuse	6,725	2,507	2,182	280	249	212	86	162	12,403
Sexual abuse	3,875	410	605	259	95	82	45	120	5,491
Total	34,135	6,365	8,028	1,464	2,331	1,214	827	756	55,120

Source: AIHW (2009, p. 69)

The maltreatment types most commonly substantiated across Australia were emotional abuse and child neglect (see Figure 2). Emotionally abusive behaviours include verbally abusing, terrorising, scape goating, isolating, rejecting, and ignoring. Children who witness domestic violence are also typically categorised as having experienced emotional abuse. The high proportion of substantiations of emotional abuse is a relatively new phenomenon (AIHW, 2009). The inclusion of children who have witnessed domestic violence is likely to be one of the key reasons for the high rates of substantiated emotional abuse (Holzer & Bromfield, 2008).

Source: AIHW (2009, p. 69)

Figure 2. Percentage breakdown of primary substantiated maltreatment types in Australia in 2007-08

Neglect refers to the failure (usually by the parent) to provide for a child's basic needs, including failure to provide adequate food, shelter, clothing, supervision, hygiene or medical attention. The high rates of neglect are consistent with the disadvantaged socio-economic conditions prevalent in many families referred to child protection services (Becket, 2003).

What do the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare statistics tell us about the characteristics of children who are the subject of reports?

In all jurisdictions, girls were much more likely than boys to be the subject of a substantiation of sexual abuse. In Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, three times as many girls were subject to a substantiation of sexual abuse than boys.

The rates of substantiated abuse or neglect decreased as age increased. Children aged between0-4 years old were the most likely to be the subject of a substantiated report of abuse or neglect, while children aged 15-16 years were the least likely.

Nationally, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were more likely to be the subject of substantiated reports than were other children. Across Australia, Indigenous children were more than 6 times as likely as other children to be the subject of a substantiation.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, how many children are removed and live in out-of-home care?

Some children who are found to have suffered abuse and neglect are removed from their homes by child protection authorities and placed in out-of-home care. Nationally, the number of children in out-of-home care has risen each year from 1998 to 2008. There were 31,166 children in out-of-home care on 30 June 2008. Almost one-third (31%) of children in out-of-home care were aged 10-14 years. A further 30% were aged 5-9 years, 25% were aged less than 5 years and 14% were aged 15-17 years.

Most children who were removed from their homes were placed in home-based care (94%). Home-based care is where placement is in the home of a carer. There are three categories of home-based care:

foster care - where care is provided in the private home of a substitute family that receives payment that is intended to cover the child's living expenses;
relative/kinship care - where the caregiver is a family member or a person with a pre-existing relationship with the child; and
other home-based care - care in private homes that does not fit into the above categories.

Of those children in home-based care, 48% were in foster care, 45% were in relative/kinship care, and 1% were in some other type of home-based care.

A small proportion of children (5%) removed from their homes were placed in residential care where staff were paid to care for them. Children in residential care were considerably older than children in home-based care, with 43% aged between 10-14 years and a further 42% aged between 15-17 years.

At 30 June 2008, there were 9,074 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care. The national rate of Indigenous children in out-of-home care was almost 9 times the rate for other children.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare statistics, who makes reports to child protection authorities?

Anyone who suspects that a child is being abused and/or neglected or is at risk of being abused and/or neglected may make a report to child protection authorities.

Each state has its own legislation stipulating those people who are mandated by law to report suspected cases of child abuse or neglect. The requirements vary between each state. Mandatory reporting requirements are outlined in Resource Sheet No. 3, Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse.

The most recent AIHW statistics show that notifications most commonly came from police, hospitals and health centres, and school personnel.

Do child protection statistics tell us how many children are abused or neglected in Australia?

Child protection statistics tells us how many children come into contact with child protection services. It is the only data routinely collected in Australia that gives an idea of the number of children experiencing child abuse and neglect. However there are several problems (see box inset for a discussion) with these data that result in some children who:

have been abused or neglected not being included in child protection statistics; and
have not been abused or neglect being included in child protection statistics.

Child protection statistics are the best available indicator of the extent of the problem of child abuse and neglect in Australia, but they do not tell us how many children in the community have been abused or neglected.

The limitations of child protection statistics as an indicator for child maltreatment incidence

Traditionally, child protection data have been perceived as a conservative estimate of the occurrence of child maltreatment (Bromfield & Higgins, 2004). Child abuse and neglect often goes undetected due to the private nature of the crime, the difficulties children experience in making disclosures and being believed, and lack of evidence to substantiate the crime (Irenyi, 2007). Child protection data only includes those cases of abuse and neglect that were detected and reported and is therefore likely to be an underestimation of the number of children abused or neglected.

In addition to the under-reporting of abuse and neglect, system issues may also contribute to the underestimation of the number who are abused or neglected. Child protection data exclude cases where the abuse or neglect was not perpetrated by the parent and the parent is protecting the child (e.g., child sexually abused by a non-family member who lives in the community) (Bromfield & Higgins, 2004). These cases are generally considered to be a police not a child protection matter.

Child protection data also include some children who were not abused or neglected:
• reports to child protection include cases in which children need care and protection, but the children have not been abused or neglected (e.g., parent hospitalised and there is no one to care for the child) (Bromfield & Higgins, 2004); and
• child protection data include cases in which the state became involved to protect children who were at risk of being abused or neglected, but had not yet experienced any maltreatment (e.g., mother's new partner is a known child sex offender) (Bromfield & Higgins, 2004).

The total number of notifications and substantiations reported by child protection services in any given year will also include some children who are reported to child protection services more than once in a twelve month period. Each new notification or substantiation does not necessarily represent a different child (AIHW, 2009).

Finally, it is worth noting that child protection data reflects only those families reported to child protection services. Economically disadvantaged families are more likely to come in contact with, and therefore under the scrutiny of, public authorities. This means that it is more likely that abuse and neglect will be identified in economically disadvanatged families if it is present (Beckett, 2003).

Other countries such as Canada, the US and the UK have undertaken national prevalence or incidence studies to enable more accurate estimates of how much abuse and neglect occurs in the community. "Prevalence" refers to the total number of children who have experienced abuse or neglect at some point in their childhood. "Incidence" refers to the total number of children who experienced abuse or neglect during a specified time period. Such information is usually collected via a large survey of the population.

Additional online readings and research available from the Clearinghouse web site

Child Protection Statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Bromfield, L. M., & Higgins, D. J. (2005). National comparison of child protection systems (Child Abuse Prevention Issues No. 22). Retrieved 19 February 2009, from http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/issues/issues22/issues22.html

Higgins, D. J., Bromfield, L. M., & Richardson, N. (2007, August). Mandatory reporting of child abuse (Resource Sheet No. 3). Melbourne: National Child Protection Clearinghouse. Retrieved 19 February 2009, from http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/sheets/rs3/rs3.html

Holzer, P. J., & Bromfield, L. M. (2007, September). Australian legal definitions: When is a child in need of protection? (Resource Sheet No. 12). Melbourne: National Child Protection Clearinghouse. Retrieved 19 February 2009, from http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/sheets/rs12/rs12.html

References

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2009). Child protection Australia 2007-08. Canberra: Author. Retrieved 19 February 2009, from http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10687

Beckett, C. (2003). Child protection: An introduction. London: SAGE Publications.

Bromfield, L. M., & Higgins, D. J. (2004). The limitations of using statutory child protection data for research into child maltreatment. Australian Social Work, 57(1), 19-30.

Holzer, P. J., & Bromfield, L. M. (2008). NCPASS comparability of child protection data: Project report. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies. Retrieved 22 January 2009, from: http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/reports/ncpass/ncpass.pdf

Irenyi, M. (2007). Responding to children and young people's disclosures of abuse (NCPC Practice Brief 2). Retrieved 19 February 2009, from http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/brief/pb2/pb2.html

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Last modified 29 April, 2010^ Top

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	MEDIA RELEASE
June 3, 2010	Embargo: 11.30 am (AEDT)	65/2010

One in four sexual assault victims were children aged 10 to 14 years: ABS

During 2009 there were 18,800 victims of sexual assault recorded by police, with 25% of these victims aged 10 to 14 years, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The victimisation rate for all sexual assault victims aged 10-14 was 4 times higher than the rate for all age groups (338 victims per 100,000 people aged 10-14 compared with 86 victims per 100,000 people).

Female and male victims of sexual assault aged 10-14 both had victimisation rates 4 times higher than the rate for all females and males (579 female victims per 100,000 females aged 10- 14 compared with the overall rate of 144 female victims per 100,000 females; and 108 male victims per 100,000 males aged 10-14 compared with the overall rate of 26 male victims per 100,000 males.)

The majority (84%) of all sexual assault victims were female. Females were also the most prevalent victims of kidnapping/abduction (55%), while males were the most prevalent victims of robbery (75%), attempted murder (74%), murder (71%), and blackmail/extortion (69%).

Between 2008 and 2009, the number of victims recorded by police of blackmail/extortion offences increased by 60% (equating to a victimisation rate in 2009 of 3 victims per 100,000 people). The number of victims increased marginally for the personal offences of murder (1%) and attempted murder (1%), and decreased for manslaughter (-6%), sexual assault (-2%), kidnapping/abduction (-19%) and robbery (-5%).

Selected property offences in 2009 (unlawful entry with intent, motor vehicle theft and other theft) all decreased from 2008.

Of the selected personal offences, weapons were mainly used in murders, attempted murders, and robberies. A knife was the most common weapon used in committing these offences: 37% of attempted murder victims; 36% of murder victims; and 19% of robbery victims were subjected to an offence involving a knife.

Residential locations were the most common place of occurrence for the offences of unlawful entry with intent (68%), sexual assault (67%), murder (65%), attempted murder (62%), and motor vehicle theft (40%). The street/footpath was the most prevalent location where victims were robbed (46%) and kidnapped/abducted (45%).

Media note:

This publication presents national crime statistics relating to victims of a selected range of personal and property offences that have been recorded by police during 2009. Caution should be exercised in comparing 2009 data to prior years due to business process changes. More details are available in Recorded Crime - Victims, Australia, 2009 (cat. no. 4510.0).

Please ensure when reporting on ABS data that you attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.

This page last updated 3 June 2010

Child Sexual Abuse, the Law, and ‘Culture’

BUACA — Mon, 31 May 2010 18:22:00 CDT

Gang-rape judge in child sex furore

By Padraic Murphy, Natasha Robinson and Tony Koch
February 15, 2008
Article from: The Australian
THE north Queensland judge who last year allowed nine child rapists to go free has given a teacher, who has admitted forcing an indigenous 11-year-old boy to perform oral sex on him, time to gather evidence that he was educating his victim in “men’s business”.
James Last, a Sydney-educated teacher who recently worked in Northern Territory communities, last week pleaded guilty in Cairns before District Court judge Sarah Bradley to seven counts of indecently dealing with an 11-year-old boy over a four-month period in 1983.
But Judge Bradley has granted a three-month adjournment to allow Last, who claims he received no sexual gratification from the assaults, to allow his lawyers to find an anthropologist to support his claim that he had been trying to introduce the Torres Strait boy to “traditional” islander sexual practices.
Judge Bradley granted the adjournment despite the prosecution pointing out that it had two witnesses – “respected elders” from the boy’s home island – ready to debunk the claim that such practices were part of “men’s business”.
The adjournment has outraged indigenous leaders, who have already called for Judge Bradley’s sacking after she failed last year to jail nine males for the gang rape of a 10-year-old girl in the Cape York community of Aurukun.
Last, now 61 and living in Darwin, took the 11-year-old boy from his family on Saibai Island in the Torres Strait in 1983, promising to educate him in Cairns.
But Last, who was 37 at the time of the offences, repeatedly sexually abused the boy, at one point saying: “I’ve sucked you, now it’s your turn.”
Last said yesterday he had taken the “self-sacrificial” step of pleading guilty to the charges to spare the boy, who he loved, a trial. He said Aboriginal elders in the Torres Strait had “entrusted” the boy to him, and he was tutored by the elders in “men’s business”.
“I’m saying that certain things are not abuse and they never were in the traditional culture,” he said. “A lot of it is men’s business and that’s why, I think very wisely, Aboriginal islander people have said men’s business is men’s business. They say, ‘You don’t tell the white fella what he can’t understand’.”
Prosecutor Skye Growden told the court Last had told the victim the abuse was a part of traditional culture. “The defendant told the victim that this was traditional and that older men did this to young men when they loved them and he believed him,” she said. “The complainant says in his statement that the arresting officer in this matter was the first person that he told because he was ashamed about the offences and worried what people would say if they found out.”
Ms Growden told the court that although Last had a part-Aboriginal father, he was not raised in a traditional manner and that he should receive a custodial sentence to send a clear message to the community.
“It is stated in the defence material that he was born in Sydney where he was educated to grade 12. He then went on to receive a scholarship and teach in Wollongong and undertake postgraduate studies,” she said

Read More Hear

"The court heard the elder was promised the girl when she was four, and became angry when he heard she had struck up a friendship with an 18 year old man in June 2004. He beat her with a boomerang, then took her to his remote out-station - where he lived with his first wife - and forced her to have anal sex. On sentencing the elder on August 11, 2005, Chief Justice Martin took into account the fact the girl was the man's promised wife under customary law. He said he was satisfied the man believed the sexual assault was acceptable because the girl had been promised to him and had reached the age of 14."

Jail for ********* camp boss Paige Taylor
THE Aboriginal patriarch who ruled Perth's notorious Swan Valley Nyungah Camp and for decades was the face of indigenous activism in Western Australia has again been jailed for **********, including for one opportunistic attack described as"the lowest form of abuse imaginable".

Robert Bropho's victim in this case was an 11-year-old glue-sniffer, whom he began giving money for sex 18 years ago.
District Court judge Peter Nisbet said Bropho, 78, was arrogant, a bully and a repeat liar who had committed an act of "cynical depravity" when he bailed the young girl out of a juvenile detention centre, then raped her on the way home.
After hearing DNA evidence, Judge Nisbet found Bropho was the father of two of the victim's children.
"This finding demonstrates that the accused's denials that he has ever had sexual intercourse with the complainant are lies impacting seriously upon his credibility," he said.
Bropho was yesterday sentenced to three years' jail for five counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 13 in 1990 and 1991. He will be eligible for parole in 18 months.
"What I saw of the accused during the course of the trial and during the course of his evidence was a bully," Judge Nisbet said.
Bropho's reign at the Swan Valley camp ended in 2003 when the suicide of teenager Susan Taylor led to claims sex abuse and drugs were rife at the camp.
Premier Alan Carpenter, then Aboriginal affairs minister, invoked legislation to close down the camp.
Bropho's attention-grabbing antics included a "hunger strike" on the steps of parliament, during which he drank instant soup and ate lollies. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, he was constantly in the news as the voice of Aboriginal discontent and protest. Even at his trial before Judge Nisbet, he said: "I am the shadow of Martin Luther King and Gandhi."
In 2005, Bropho was convicted of three counts of indecently dealing with a young girl from the camp. He served 12 months for the offences. He tried to have the Supreme Court of Appeal overturn the convictions, but failed last July.
The girl Bropho was yesterday convicted of abusing is now 30 and told Judge Nisbet she had kept quiet because she thought nobody would believe her "because Bobby runs the camp".
Some of the attacks were at the camp and some were at the home of Bropho's long-time non-Aboriginal supporter Margaret Jeffrey, whom Judge Nisbet described as loquacious, evasive and "not a witness of truth".
Under cross-examination, the victim admitted often giving false evidence to police and sniffing glue for many years, which sometimes affected her memory.
"I have nevertheless come to the firm and unshakeable conclusion that she is telling the truth when she says that she was sexually abused by the accused from the time she was 11 years of age through until she was 22 years of age," Judge Nisbet said.
He said Bropho committed "the lowest form of abuse imaginable" when he took advantage of the girl's incarceration at a juvenile detention centre in 1991.
"A young Aboriginal girl, incarcerated, released to bail if she can find a surety, rings the accused ... (He) arrives in a taxi, bails her out and then takes her to the Johnson Street Bridge ... he takes her to bushland adjacent to or underneath the bridge and has sex with her. It is, in my opinion, an act of utter cynical depravity

Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse:

BUACA — Mon, 31 May 2010 17:33:54 CDT

Homosexuality and Child Sexual Abuse:

Science, Religion,

and the Slippery Slope

by Mark E. Pietrzyk*

Based on Abel’s statistics, if approximately 33 percent of all molestations are male-on-male, and 21 percent of these cases are committed by homosexuals, the actual percentage of molesters who are homosexual is 21% x 33% = 6.9%. Keeping in mind that even the best surveys have a margin of error of a few percentage points, this figure is pretty close to the figures usually given for the total percentage of homosexuals in the overall population, which is about five percent.28 In other words, homosexual males are not a significantly greater threat to children proportionately than straight males. (In fact, one could argue that since the number of molestations committed by females is relatively rare, it is clear that lesbians pose less of a threat to children than straight males.) READ MORE HERE

ABOUT KAZZIE K

eightdogs — Fri, 28 May 2010 02:54:49 CDT

Kazzie Kennedy & Kazzie K Books are Proud to announce there ongoing support for BUACA, The Australian Childhood Foundation, Bravehearts & ASCA.

KAZZIE believes every child deserves a life free from suffering. Abuse should never be tolerated and ignorance should and is never an excuse.

Please take the time to not only read the wonderful writings of Kazzie, but also support the wonderful causes that will benefit from your generosity.

We thank Kazzie, for the tireless & dedicated work that she puts in daily, and without such wonderful, generous, loyal and beautiful people such as herself, the innocent children will suffer in silence.

KAZZIE K BOOKS

AGES OF CONSENT IN EUROPE

eightdogs — Fri, 21 May 2010 04:25:18 CDT

AGES OF CONSENT IN
EUROPE

a scus

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Ages of consent in Europe

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Main article: Age of consent

The ages of consent for sexual activity vary by jurisdiction across Europe. Most countries have an age of consent ranging from 14 to 17, the exceptions being Vatican State (age 12); Spain (age 13); and Malta and Turkey (both age 18). The laws can also stipulate the specific activities that are permitted and/or differentially specify the age at which a given sex can participate. Below is a discussion of the various laws dealing with this subject. The highlighted age is that at which, or above which, an individual can engage in unfettered sexual relations with another who is also at or above that age. Other variables may exist, for close-in-age exceptions, for defences in Greece (applicable to heterosexual and lesbian sexual conduct only, not for gay male sexual conduct), however the age of consent in Greece is mostly 15 for all, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender (as shown below in more detail). In the very small British overseas territory of Gibraltar there is a higher age of consent (as shown below in more detail) just for gay male sexual conduct set at 18 (16 for lesbian and heterosexual sexual conduct) and the courts are yet to review the 1993 legislation [8][9]. All other places in Europe have an equal age of consent, regardless of the sex of the participants.

Age of consent laws Worldwide

[hide]

[edit] Albania

Since 2001, the age of consent in Albania has been 14, regardless of gender and/or sexual orientation [10] LGBT rights in Albania#Former laws against homosexuality [11].

[edit] Andorra

The age of consent in Andorra is 16, as specified by Article 206, which reads: "Whoever, without violence or intimidation, has had a carnal relationship with a minor older than fourteen years and less than sixteen years will be punished by a maximum penalty of imprisonment of six years."

Andorran Criminal Code

[edit] Austria

The general age of consent in Austria is 14, as specified by Section 206 of the penal code. (The term unmündig is specified in Section 74 of the penal code.) Paragraph 4 of Section 206 defines a close-in-age exception of max. three years.

Section 207b of the penal code contains an exception to the general age of consent: if one of the partners is younger than 16 years of age and “not sufficiently mature to understand the significance of the act”, then the act is punishable.

[edit] History

The Austrian Criminal Code previously specified 18 as the age of consent for homosexual sex in which the other partner was aged 14–18, while no equivalent provision existed for heterosexual sexual conduct; this was Section 209 of the Criminal Code. In November 1996, an amendment was put before the Austrian Parliament to remove Section 209; but the vote ended in a draw, and the amendment failed to pass. In July 1998, a similar amendment was put forward; it was voted down by the conservative majority. Section 209 came into force when homosexuality between males became legal in 1971.

On 24 June 2002, the Austrian Constitutional Court ruled that Section 209 was unconstitutional. The Section was later repealed on 14 August 2002. On 9 January 2003, the European Court of Human Rights held, in L & V v Austria, that Section 209 violated Articles 8 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

[edit] Belarus

The age of consent in Belarus is 16, as specified by Articles 168 and 169, which read: "Sexual relations, ******, lesbian acts or other actions of sexual character of an adult, reached eighteen years of age, with a person who obviously has not reached sixteen years of age, at absence of attributes of the crimes stipulated by articles 166 and 167 present codes, are punished by restriction of freedom of two years to four years or by imprisonment of two years to five years." and "Dissolute actions accomplished by a person, reached eighteen years of age, concerning a person who obviously has not reached sixteen years of age, at absence of attributes of the crimes stipulated by articles 166, 167 and 168 present codes, are punished by arrest of about six months or imprisonment of one year to three years."

Belarus Criminal Code (in Russian) (relevant articles last changed by laws in May 4, 2005 - National register of legal acts of Byelorussia, 2005, № 74, 2/1112)

Provisional English translation of the relevant articles of the Belarus Criminal Code

[edit] Belgium

The age of consent in Belgium is 16, as specified by Article 372, which reads:

"All indecent assaults on modesty committed without violence or threat, by a person or by aiding the person, of a child of either sex, aged less than sixteen, will be punished by imprisonment (of five years to ten years).

Belgian Criminal Code: in French & in Dutch

[edit] History

The Belgian Criminal Code previously specified an age of consent of 18 for homosexual sex. This provision - Article 372(2) - was repealed in 1985.

[edit] Bosnia and Herzegovina

The age of consent in Bosnia and Herzegovina is 14. This is not expressly stated in legislation, although Article 207 (Sexual Intercourse with a Child) reads "Whoever performs sexual intercourse or equivalent sexual act on a child, shall be punished by imprisonment for a term between one and eight years" and Article 2(8) reads "A child, as referred to in this Code, is a person who has not reached fourteen years of age".

[edit] Bulgaria

The age of consent in Bulgaria is 14, as specified by Articles 149 and 151 (1). However Article 151(2) has a provision for those who are over 14 and do "not understand the characteristics or the importance of the act."

Art. 151. (1) Who copulates with a person who has not accomplished 14 years of age, inasmuch as the act does not constitute a crime according to art. 152, shall be punished by imprisonment of two to five years.' [1]

Art. 149. (1) Who commits an act in order to arouse or satisfy a sexual desire without a copulation regarding a person who has not accomplished 14 years of age shall be punished for fornication by imprisonment of up to five years. [1]

Bulgarian Criminal Code

[edit] Croatia

The age of consent in Croatia is 14 as specified by the Croatian Criminal Code. The acts themselves ban "sexual relations with a child" while it is later defined that a child is a person under the age of 14. NN 110 art 192 (1997) (in croatian)

[edit] History

Homosexual acts were illegal until 1977, when Croatia, then as a Yugoslav Federal Republic, changed its Penal Code. Age of consent was equalised in 1998.

[edit] Cyprus

The age of consent for all sexual conduct in Cyprus under the 2002 Criminal Code is 17, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender.

[edit] History

Until 1998, homosexual acts between men were entirely forbidden under Section 171 (1929). In 1989, Alecos Modinos, president of the Cypriot Gay Liberation Movement, brought a case to the European Court of Human Rights. In 1993, the Court held that the prohibition of homosexual acts was a violation of Article 8. In January 1995, the Cypriot Government introduced a Bill in the Cypriot Parliament which would have abolished the ban. Strong opposition from the Church meant the Bill stalled when referred to the Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee. The European Commission repeated its warning that Cyprus must follow the Court's ruling. In May 1997, again a government measure to repeal the ban failed because of the strength of the opposition. In April 1998, the Council of Europe set a deadline for compliance of 29 May 1998 and on 21 May 1998, the House of Representatives voted 36 to 8 in favour legalising homosexual acts. However it was set at 18 while heterosexual acts remained at 16.

In 2002, under pressure from the EU[2] the parliament finally ended the disparate provisions and changed the age of consent to 17 for both hetero and homosexual acts, under a new Criminal Code.

[edit] Northern Cyprus

Unilaterally declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has the age of consent for females at 16 as designated in the Penal Code (Ceza Yasası, Art. 154). Sexual contact with a female between 13 and 16 years of age is considered a misdemeanour (Ceza Yasası, Art. 153). There is no age of consent determined for males and Northern Cyprus maintains ****** laws abolished in the Republic of Cyprus, making sexual contact between males illegal and perpetrators of "sexual acts against the order of nature" (both penetrating and receiving) are punished with up to 5 years of imprisonment (Ceza Yasası, Art. 171; cf. Section 171 of the Criminal Code of Cyprus). Northern Cypriot Penal Code (in Turkish)

[edit] Czech Republic

The age of consent in the Czech Republic is 15, as specified by the Czech Penal Code, Section 242, which reads: "A person who has sexual intercourse with a child under fifteen (15) years of age or who sexually abuses such a person by other way shall be sentenced to imprisonment for at least one and at most eight years."

Czech Criminal Code (in Czech language)

[edit] History

Until 1961, homosexual acts were illegal. The new Penal Code, introduced in that year, decriminalised homosexual acts but specified an age of consent for such acts of 18. In 1990, this, and other discrepancies, were removed and the age of consent was reduced to 15, in line with heterosexual acts.

[edit] Denmark

The age of consent in The Kingdom of Denmark is 15 as specified by Section 222, which reads: "Any person who has sexual intercourse with any child under the age of fifteen will be liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding eight years."

Danish Criminal Code (in Danish)

[edit] History

Male homosexual acts were legalised in Denmark (lesbianism was never illegal) with an age of consent set at 18, after a major reform of the Penal Code in 1930; At the same time the age of consent for heterosexual acts were raised from 12 to 15. In 1976, the age of consent was equalised at 15 for all acts[citation needed]. But sex with a child under the age of 12 gives double punishment, and sex with a child at 15, 16 and 17 is illegal for a person in charge of this child.

Until 1866, interaction "against nature" [anal intercourse] was punishable with the stakes. However, until the late 1700s the rule was never used and when it came into rule, the convicts were always pardoned to 7 years in jail - exactly the punishment introduced in the Penal Code 1866 but now only for homosexual acts.

[edit] Faroe Islands

The age of consent in the Faroe Islands is 15 §222, which reads;

"Den, som har samleje med et barn under 15 år, straffes med fængsel indtil 6 år."

(Translated: "The person, who has sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 15, will be punished with up to six years in jail.")

However it is 18 for those in a position of trust (E.g. teachers) §223, which reads;

"Den, som har samleje med en person under 18 år, der er den skyldiges adoptivbarn, stedbarn eller plejebarn eller er betroet den pågældende til undervisning eller opdragelse, straffes med fængsel indtil 4 år."

("The person, who has sex with a person below 18 years who is an adopted child, a stepchild, or a foster-child; or whose teaching or upbringing they have been trusted with, will be punished with up to 4 years in jail.")

[edit] Estonia

The age of consent in Estonia is 14, as specified by Section 145 (Sexual intercourse with a child) which reads: "An adult person who engages in sexual intercourse with a person of less than 14 years of age shall be punished by up to 3 years’ imprisonment."

Estonian Criminal Code

[edit] History

Until 1992, male homosexual sex was illegal, the Estonian Penal Code, Article 118, forbidding "anal intercourse between men". Due to regaining independence from USSR in 1991, the age of consent for male homosexual intercourse was fixed at 16, whereas the age for heterosexual intercourse was 14. The age of consent was equalised in 2001 when the law was amended, specifying an age of 14 for sexual intercourse.

[edit] Finland

The age of consent in Finland is 16, as specified by Section 6(1) (Sexual abuse of a child) which reads: "A person who has sexual intercourse with a child younger than sixteen years of age ... shall be sentenced for sexual abuse of a child to imprisonment for at most four years."

Finnish Penal Code

[edit] History

Until 1971, homosexual acts were prohibited. After decriminalisation, the age of consent was set at 18 for homosexual acts, and 16 for heterosexual acts. In 1998, the age of consent was equalised to 16 for all sexual acts; although the Finnish Government had proposed an age of consent of 15, the Parliament chose an age of consent of 16 instead.

[edit] France

The age of consent in France is 15, as specified by Article 227-25, which reads: "The commission without violence, constraint, threat or surprise of a sexual offence by an adult on the person of a child under fifteen years of age is punished by five years' imprisonment and a fine of €75,000."

French Penal Code

[edit] History

Male homosexual acts were illegal until 1791, when the ancient ****** laws were dropped from the Criminal Code of that year. This continued to be the case under the Napoleonic Code of 1810. In 1942, the age of consent for homosexual acts was set at 21, while that for heterosexual acts was 13. The latter was increased to 15 in 1945. In 1978, the age for homosexual acts was lowered to 18. In 1981, it was lowered to 15, in line with that for heterosexual acts.

[edit] Georgia

The age of consent in Georgia is 16 as per Georgian Penal Code Art. 140, and Art. 141.[3]

[edit] Germany

The age of consent in Germany is 14, as long as a person over the age of 21 does not exploit a 14–15 year-old person's lack of capacity for sexual self-determination. In this rare and special case, a conviction on an individual over the age of 21 requires a complaint from the younger individual; being over 21 and engaging in sexual relations with a minor of that age does not constitute an offense in and of itself. Otherwise the age of consent is 16, although provisions protecting minors against coercion apply until the age of 18.

As specified by Sections 176 (Sexual abuse of children) and 182 (Sexual abuse of youths), which read:

§ 176: "(1) Whoever commits sexual acts on a person under fourteen (14) years of age (a child) or allows them to be committed on himself by the child, shall be punished by imprisonment from six months to ten years [...]"

§ 182: "(2) A person over twenty-one years of age who abuses a person under sixteen years of age, in that he: 1. commits sexual acts on the person or allows them to be committed on himself by the person; or 2. induces the person to commit sexual acts on a third person or to allow them to be committed on the person by a third person, and thereby exploits the victim's lack of capacity for sexual self-determination, shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than three years or a fine. [..] the act shall only be prosecuted upon complaint, unless the prosecuting authority considers ex officio that it is required to enter the case because of the special public interest therein. [..] the court may dispense with punishment pursuant to these provisions if , in consideration of the conduct of the person against whom the act was directed, the wrongfulness of the act is slight."

Relevant paragraph of the German criminal code (in the version of April 1, 2004; last changed by a law in 2003.)

German Criminal Code (out of date) German Criminal Code in Spanish (translated by Claudia López Diaz)

[edit] History

The current ages of consent of 14 and 16 in Germany were set following a post-reunification penal law reform in 1994. While sexual acts with children under 14 had long been illegal both in West Germany and the German Democratic Republic, as far as minors above 14 were concerned, the penal code in West Germany merely defined sexual acts with an unblemished girl under the age of 16 as punishable. In the GDR, by contrast, sexual acts with persons of the opposite sex between the ages of 14 and 16 were punishable if their moral immaturity was exploited by using gifts, the promise of benefits or similar methods of persuasion to initiate intercourse or actions similar to intercourse. As a compromise to unite and keep with legal traditions of both countries, the current minimum age of 14 for all of Germany was introduced, and sexual acts committed by a person above 21 with a minor under 16 involving exploitation of the minor's individual lack of capacity for sexual self-determination were made punishable.

Homosexuality was illegal in West Germany until 1973 under §175 of the country's criminal code; following two penal law reforms in 1969 and 1973, only male homosexual acts were punished, if they were performed with a minor under the age of 18. §175 was abolished in 1994 in favor of the above mentioned, gender-neutral uniform ages of consent. In the GDR, homosexual acts among both male and female adults over 18 were legalized in 1968; homosexuality was completely legalized in 1988, when § 151 of East Germany's criminal code was repealed.

Further reading:

Recht, was ist erlaubt? (What is permitted?) Comparison of AOC laws in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. (In German)
Schutzalter German Wikipedia Article

[edit] Greece

The age of consent in Greece is 15.

The general provision for age of consent in Greece is 15 as specified by Section 339(1) of the Penal Code, which reads:

"One who commits an indecent act with a person under fifteen years of age, or causes this person to commit or undergo such an act through deception, is punished as follows..."

However, Article 347 holds a further prohibition of "seducing" a young male person if the actor is an adult (amongst other prohibitions regarding positions of authority and acts of lewdness). In Greek law the age of majority is set at 18. This effectively sets the age of consent for male homosexual activity to 17, with a close in age exception for those older than 15 and younger than 18.[citation needed]

Further reading:

Sexual Offences Laws in Greece

[edit] Hungary

The age of consent in Hungary is 14 as specified by Section 201 (Seduction), which reads: "The person who has sexual intercourse with a person who has not yet completed his 14th year, as well as the person who has completed his 18th year and engages in fornication with a person who has not yet exceeded his 14th year of age, commits a felony and shall be punishable with imprisonment from 1 to 5 years."

Hungarian Criminal Code (in Hungarian)

[edit] History

Until 1961 homosexual acts were illegal. After decriminalisation the age of consent for homosexual acts was 20 and remained so until 1978. From then until 1999 the age of consent for such acts was 18, as specified by Section 199. In 2002 the Hungarian Constitutional Court repealed Section 199 and the age of consent for homosexual acts was lowered to 14 in line with heterosexual acts.

[edit] Iceland

The age of consent in Iceland is 15, as specified by Section 202 of the Icelandic Penal Code, which reads: "Anyone who has carnal intercourse or other sexual intimacy with a child younger than 15 years shall be subject to imprisonment for at least 1 year and up to 16 years."[4][5]

[edit] History

Before the year 2007, the legal age of consent in Iceland was 14. It was considered very low, so it was decided to revise it upward, to the age of 15, in line with other Scandinavian countries. However, the age of consent in the Scandinavian countries Norway and Finland is 16.

[edit] Ireland

The age of consent in Ireland is 17 for carnal contact, with non-carnal contact being allowed at 15, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender (although this relies on an interpretation of what "carnal contact" and "non-carnal contact" refers to). Sex with a minor over the age of 15 carries a lower sentence than that for when the minor is below 15, although the punishments were raised in the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2006.

[edit] History

The heterosexual age of consent was set in the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1935. Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1993, following the ruling of the European Court in Norris v. Ireland with the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993.

Irish Statute Book

[edit] Italy

The age of consent in Italy is 14 years, with a close-in-age exception that allows those aged 13 to engage in sexual activity with partners who are less than 3 years older. The age of consent rises to 16 if one of the participants has some kind of influence on the other (e.g. teacher, tutor, adoptive parent).[6] Not knowing the fact that the victim is underage is not a legal defence.[7] It is also illegal to perform sexual acts in the presence of a minor with the intent of allowing the minor to witness the acts, even if they do not take an active part.[8]

See also related Wikisource articles from the Italian Criminal Code (in Italian). See also more related articles from Interpol website (in French).

[edit] Kosovo

The age of consent in Kosovo is 14, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender.

[edit] History

Kosovo legalized male homosexuality in 1970. The age of consent became equal at 14 in 1991.

LGBT rights in Kosovo

[edit] Latvia

The age of consent in Latvia is 16. Sexual activities that do not involve vaginal intercourse can occur from age 14 (including same sex acts). Under some conditions a kind of close in age exception for those between 14 and 16 exists for vaginal intercourse.

The main legislation is specified by the Latvian Criminal Law, Section 161 (Sexual Intercourse, Pederasty and Lesbianism with a Person who has not Attained the Age of Sixteen Years), which translated reads: "For a person who commits an act of sexual intercourse, or pederastic, lesbian or other unnatural sexual acts of gratification, with a person who has not attained the age of sixteen years and who is in financial or other dependence on the offender, or if such offence has been committed by a person who has attained the age of majority, the applicable sentence is deprivation of liberty for a term not exceeding four years."

[edit] History

Until 1992, male homosexual acts were illegal under Section 124.1 of the Latvian Criminal Code. This provision was repealed by the Latvian Parliament in 1992 and the age of consent for male homosexual acts was set at 18. In 1998, the Latvian Parliament adopted a new Criminal Code which contained a complex system of sexual offences: the age of consent for all sexual acts other than vaginal intercourse was 14; for vaginal intercourse it was 14 if the other person was under 18, and 16 if the other person was over 18. In 2001, the law was amended to clarify the situation and confirm that the age of consent was 14 (or 16 if the person was older than 18) for all acts.

[edit] Lithuania

The age of consent in Lithuania is 14, as specified by the Lithuanian Criminal Code §153, according to which any sexual molestation or sexual relationships with a minor under 14 years are prohibited. The age of consent (14) is not set directly in this article of the Lithuanian criminal code, though. It was established by the Lithuanian case law. This means that both heterosexual and homosexual acts are allowed once a child has reached the age of 14. There is an exception to this rule: §151(1)-2 of the Lithuanian criminal code prohibits parents, guardians, conservatives or other people who are ex officio directly responsible for the upgringing and supervision of a child to have any relationships of sexual kind with the child, if he or she has not yet reached the age of 18.

Lithuanian Criminal Code = Lietuvos Respublikos baudžiamasis kodeksas (in Lithuanian)

[edit] History

Until 1993, male homosexual acts were prohibited under the Lithuanian Criminal Code, Article 1221, which was repealed in that year. The new law set an age of consent of 17 for male oral and anal intercourse, 16 for other male homosexual acts, and 14 for lesbian and heterosexual acts. In 2004, the law was amended to equalise the age of consent at 14 for all sexual acts.

[edit] Luxembourg

The age of consent in Luxembourg is 16, as specified by the Luxembourgish Penal Code, Article 372, which reads: "All indecent assaults on modesty committed without violence or threat, by a person or by aiding the person, of a child of either sex, aged less than sixteen, will be punished by imprisonment of one to five years.

The penalty will be imprisonment of five to ten years if the child was less than eleven years old."

Luxembourgish Penal Code (in French)

[edit] Malta

The age of consent in Malta is 18. Sexual activity - typically by people over 18 - with people between 12 and 18 can be considered defilement of minors by lewd acts or corruption of a minor, which, at the discretion of prosecutors and the courts, depending on the circumstances, may result in a conviction.

Art 201 of Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta (Presumption of violence in cases of carnal knowledge and indecent assault) states:

201. Unlawful carnal knowledge and any other indecent assault, shall be presumed to be accompanied with violence -
(a) when it is committed on any person under twelve years of age;
(b) when the person abused was unable to offer resistance owing to physical or mental infirmity, or for any other cause independent of the act of the offender, or in consequence of any fraudulent device used by the offender.[9]

The punishment is imprisonment from three to nine years, with or without solitary confinement, as described in Art. 198 (Rape or carnal knowledge with violence). The punishment can be increased in certain cases described in Art. 202, such as when the person has not attained the age of nine years.

Art. 203 of Chapter 9 of the Laws of Malta (Defilement of minors) reads:

203. (1) Whosoever, by lewd acts, defiles a minor of either sex, shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, with or without solitary confinement: [...][9]

A number of aggravating circumstances exist to this blanket provision including: Abuse of parental authority or tutorship, where the victim is under the age of 12 and if the offence is committed by means of threats or deceit. There is no definition of how old the offender must be: Even another minor can be guilty of this crime,[10] although there is no evidence that any such case has ever been prosecuted.

The age of majority is defined in Art 188 of Chapter 16 of the Civil Laws of Malta:

188. (1) Majority is fixed at the completion of the eighteenth year of age.[11]

To apply Art. 203, there are requirements:

For the completed offence and apart from the formal element of the offence, there must be the lewd act (atto di libidine) and the actual defilement. The lewd act may be committed either on the person or in the presence of the minor. All acts which, either by their very nature or of the circumstances in which they are performed, either are directed to the indulgence of the sexual appetite, either of the agent or of the victim, and are capable of arousing sexual interest of the victim, are lewd acts for the purposes of the offence in question.[12]

It is not necessary to have sexual intercourse or even sex to be prosecuted and convicted under this article; even a kiss has been deemed by the Maltese criminal courts as amounting to a ‘lewd act’[13], or sending SMS messages with sexual connotations.[14]

The term "defile" must be put in context. In example: If a person is sexually mature (even if minor) then he/she cannot be defiled. In 2008 two brothers, aged 19 and 20, were found not guilty of defiling a girl, then aged 16. Their sexual encounters were consensual, and it was clear that the girl had had several previous sexual adventures with several youths.[15][16] In 2007 a man of 30 was found guilty of defiling a boy, then aged 14. He had set up a situation in which the boy came to his apartment; as a result of both childish curiosity and what the court deemed to be the guile of the adult man, the boy remained in the apartment even while man first showered and then committed the lewd acts.[17] There are also other cases, where offenders have been found guilty even though the circumstances were not clear, such as the case of a hotel manager aged 35 with a 14 year old girl on holiday,[18] three boys aged 18, 19 and 20 with three 14-year-old girls[19] or another hotel manager of 46 and a boy of 14, who had encounters over a longer time.[20]

In the wording of the law there is no discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. However, discrimination can result from selective enforcement with regard to individual cases. "This may therefore lead to a higher incidence of cases in which the minor and the perpetrator are of the same sex, given that there may be parents who would not resort to legal proceedings should their 17-year old child have sexual relations with another person of the opposite sex but would do so if the person is of the same sex."[10]

Marriage is allowed as early as the age of 16, which would, in theory, allow a case to arise in which a wife (or husband) they press charges under this article. In practice, this problem has never arisen.

The concept of age-banding employed in for example Canada is not present in the Maltese legal system and sexual activity between one partner who is 17 years old and another who is 18 years old can constitute defilement of minors, depending on the circumstances, with no exception being allowed purely on the basis of the proximity of their ages.

[edit] Moldova

The age of consent for sexual activity is 16, per Article 174- "Sexual intercourse with a person under 16", and Article 175- "Perverted Actions". [21]

[edit] Monaco

The age of consent in Monaco is 15.[22]

[edit] Netherlands

The age of consent in the Netherlands is 16, as specified by the Dutch Criminal Code, Articles 245 and 247, which read: (Art 245) "A person who, out of wedlock, with a person who has reached the age of twelve but has not reached sixteen, performs indecent acts comprising or including sexual penetration of the body is liable to a term of imprisonment of not more than eight years or a fine of the fifth category."; and (Art 247) "A person who, with a person whom he knows to be unconscious or physically unable to resist or to be suffering from such a degree of mental defect or mental disease that he is incapable or not sufficiently capable of exercising or expressing his will in the matter or of offering resistance, performs indecent acts, or who, with a person who has not yet reached the age of sixteen (16) years, out of wedlock, performs indecent acts, or by whom the latter is enticed into performing, or submitting to such acts, out of wedlock, with a third party, is liable to a term of imprisonment of not more than six years or a fine of the fourth category."

Sexual acts between persons who have reached the age of 12 years, however, are widely tolerated by the courts and the Dutch Public Prosecution Service if the difference in age between the two partners isn't too great. The latter is determined at the discretion of the court, though usually three years is deemed acceptable.

Article 245, Article 247 (in Dutch)

[edit] Norway

The age of consent in Norway is 16, as specified by the Norwegian General Civil Code §196 which reads: "Any person who commits or is accessory to another person's committing an act of indecency with any person who is under 16 years of age shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years." Aggravating circumstances such as recidivism, multiple perpetrators, and unusual degree of degradation and pain, or physical harm may raise the maximum penalty to 15 years.

The sexual act may not be punishable if those involved are of a "similar age or development".

Norwegian General Civil Code (in Norwegian)

[edit] Poland

The age of consent in Poland is 15, as specified by the Polish Criminal Code, Article 200, which reads:

"Article 200. § 1. Whoever subjects a minor under 15 years of age to sexual intercourse or makes him/her submit to another sexual act or to perform such an act shall be subject to the penalty of the deprivation of liberty for a term of between 2 and 12 years."
"§ 2. The same punishment shall be imposed on anyone, who records pornographic material with the participation of such a person."[23]

Polish Criminal Code (in Polish)

[edit] History

Poland never imposed laws against homosexuality. However, in 1876 homosexuality was criminalised by the laws of occupying countries (see Partitions of Poland). In 1932 the first Polish Criminal Code after regaining independence was introduced, making the age of consent of 15 for all sexual acts, regardless of sexual orientation.

[edit] Portugal

Since September 2007, the age of consent laws of Portugal states 14, regardless of sexual behaviour, gender and/or sexual orientation, as a result of the constitutional court of Portugal ruling on constitutional protection that explicitly includes "sexual orientation", formally into the Constitution of Portugal back in 2004. Since September 2007, the age of consent was formally equalised as part of the Penal Code of September 2007. Althought the age of consent is stipulated at 14 in Portugal, the legality of a sexual act with a minor between 14 and 16 is open to legal interpretation since the law states that is illegal to perform a sexual act with an adolescent between 14 and 16 years old "by taking advantage of their inexperience" [12].

[edit] History

Homosexual acts were legalised for the first time in Portugal in 1852, with an equal age of consent at that time - although homosexuality was again re-criminalised in 1912. They were decriminalised a second time in 1945 and an age of consent was set at 16, in line with heterosexual activities. In 1995, a new Penal Code was introduced with "different circumstances" for different sexual behaviours. Since September 2007 the age of consent regardless of sexual behaviour, gender and/or sexual orientation is 14[citation needed].

See also: LGBT rights in Portugal

[edit] Romania

The age of consent in Romania is 15, as specified by the Romanian Criminal Code, Article 218 (Sexual intercourse with a minor), which reads: "Sexual intercourse, of any nature, with a person of the other sex or of the same sex, who has not reached the age of 15, shall be punished by strict imprisonment from 3 to 10 years and the prohibition of certain rights."

Having sex with a minor over the age of 15 until the age of 18 is statutory rape if the sexual act is done by two categories: I. The person abused his or her authority or influence over the victim or the victim's trust. II. The person is the tutor, curator, supervisor, providing care, medication or education and using that capacity over the victim to gain consent.

Romanian Criminal Code

[edit] Russia

The age of consent in Russia is 16. The age of consent changed several times in the Russian history: the Criminal Code of RSFSR contained a very unclear clause about puberty (which was medically hard to determine for every individual, so usually the full legal age of 18 years applied de facto); when the Criminal Code of Russia was adopted in 1996, the age of consent was proclaimed to be the same regardless of sexual orientation and was set to 16 years old; [13] in 1998 it was lowered to 14 years; [14] and in 2003 it was returned again to 16 years [15] (which is the current age of consent in Russia).

Article 134. Illicit Sexual Relations or Other Sexual Actions with a Person Who Has Not Reached 16 Years of Age [16]

Illicit sexual relations, pederasty, or lesbianism, committed by a person who has reached 18 years of age with a person who obviously has not reached 16 years of age, shall be punishable by restraint of liberty for a term of up to three years or by deprivation of liberty for a term of up to four years.

Article 135. Depraved Actions [17]

Commission of depraved actions without the use of violence by the person who has reached the age of 18 years in relations to a person who obviously has not reached 16 years of age, shall be punishable by a fine in the amount up to 300 thousand roubles, or in the amount of the wage or salary, or any other income of the convicted person for a period up to two years, or by restraint of liberty for a term of up to two years, or by deprivation of liberty for a term of up to three years.

However, only a person over 18 can be charged. Charges are relatively low (up to 4 years of prison), regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender and "obscene actions" (with even less charges). {Art 134 and 135} It should be noted that if the victim is proved not to understand the nature and consequences of the act (due to their age or mental abilities), it will be considered rape and charged much more severely (up to 10 years of prison, or up to 15 if the victim is under 14). {Art 131 and 132}.

Further reading:

Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — (English translation)
Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — Chapter 18 (in Russian)
LGBT rights in Russia

[edit] Serbia

The age of consent in Serbia is 14, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender. This is regulated by Chapter 18 (Sexual Offences) of the Penal Code of the Republic of Serbia and especially Article 180 (prohibiting sexual intercourse with a child). Article 112 defines a child as a person under 14 years of age. Article 190 furthermore forbids cohabitation or marriage with a minor (person under 18).

Serbian Criminal Code in English (translated by the OSCE mission to Serbia in February 2006)

[edit] History

From 1977 to 1994, sexual acts between men of any age was a criminal offence in Serbia, although the law has never been applied. Then in 1994, the age of consent was 18 just for anal sex between males; any male performing anal sexual conduct with another male, is punishable by up to 1 year in prison, 14 for all other sexual conduct. Since 2006, an equal age of consent came into force, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender - This is regulated by the section 110 of the Penal Code of the Republic of Serbia stating that "lewd acts" between a male adult and a male under the age of 14 is punishable by imprisonment from 1 to 8 years. There is no specific reference to "lewd acts" between two females of the same offence.

The province of Vojvodina, a northern province of Serbia, had decriminalized homosexuality in 1978, thus effectively making an equal age of consent for any sexual practice regardless of sex and/or gender. This lasted until Vojvodina lost its law-making power in 1990.

[edit] Slovakia

The age of consent in Slovakia is 15, as specified by the Slovak Criminal Code, Section 201.

§ 201 Sexual abuse

1. Any person, who has sexual intercourse with a person less than fifteen years of age or who subjects such person to other sexual abuse, shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of three to ten years. [24]

[edit] History

Until 1961, homosexual acts were prohibited, however the new Criminal Code of that year decriminalised such behaviour. However, under Paragraph 244, the age of consent for homosexual acts was set at 18, whereas it remained 15 for heterosexual acts. In 1990, the Penal Code was amended to treat hetero- and homosexual acts equally; Paragraph 244 was repealed and the age of consent became 15 for all.

[edit] Slovenia

The age of consent in Slovenia is 15, as specified by the Slovenian Penal Code, Article 183, Section 1, which reads: "(1) Whoever has sexual intercourse or performs any lewd act with a person of the same or opposite sex under the age of fifteen (15) years where there is a marked discrepancy between the maturity of the perpetrator and that of the victim shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than six (6) months and not more than five (5) years. "

Slovenian Penal Code

[edit] History

Until 1959, male homosexual acts were prohibited, as was the case in all of former Yugoslavia. A new Penal Code was introduced in 1977 which decriminalised homosexual acts and all discriminatory provisions were removed. In 1995, the age of consent was set at 14 for all acts. In 1999, the code was amended to raise the age of consent to 15 years and added the condition for "a marked discrepancy between the maturity of the perpetrator and that of the victim'".

[edit] Spain

The age of consent in Spain is 13, as specified by the Spanish Penal Code, Article 181(2). However, if deceit is used in gaining the consent of a minor under 16 years an individual can be charged under Article 183(1) upon parental complaint.

"181(1) El que, interviniendo engaño, cometiere abuso sexual con persona mayor de trece años y menor de dieciséis, será castigado con la pena de prisión de uno a dos años, o multa de doce a veinticuatro meses. (Approximate translation: An individual who, by use of deceit, commits sexual abuse with a person over thirteen years and under sixteen years, will be punished with imprisonment for one or two years, or a fine equivalent to twelve to twenty-four months...) (2) A los efectos del apartado anterior, se consideran abusos sexuales no consentidos los que se ejecuten sobre menores de trece años, sobre personas que se hallen privadas de sentido o de cuyo trastorno mental se abusare." (Approximate translation: To the effects of the previous section, it is considered unconsenting sexual abuse if sexual acts are committed against persons under thirteen years, unconscious persons or persons whose mental illness is taken advantage of....)" [edit] History

Homosexual acts had been legal in Spain from 1822 to 1933, (with the exception of the offence of “habitual homosexual acts" in the years 1928-32) and even not specifically mentioned there, some homosexuals were arrested under the "Ley de Vagos y Maleantes" (Law against the Lazy and common deliquents) during the 2nd Spanish republic. Homosexual acts were illegal during Francisco Franco's regime, which created a specific law against them (Ley de Peligrosidad Social). A new Criminal Code was introduced in 1995 which specified an age of consent of 12 under Article 181f for all sexual acts; and this was raised to 13 in 1999.

Further reading:

Interpol Entry on Spain (In Spanish)

[edit] Sweden

The age of consent in Sweden is 15, as specified by the Swedish Penal Code, Chapter 6 (On Sexual Crimes). The age of fifteen is referred to several times, for example in Section 4, which reads: "A person who has sexual intercourse with a child under fifteen years of age or who with such a child carries out another sexual act that, having regard to the nature of the violation and the circumstances in general, is comparable to sexual intercourse, shall be sentenced for rape of a child to imprisonment for at least two and at most six years."

There is a position of trust rule in which the age of consent is raised to 18. The section mentioned above continues:"The same applies to the person who carries out an act referred to in the first paragraph to a child more than fifteen years of age but less than eighteen years of age and who is offspring to the perpetrator or in the perpetrator's care or in a similar relationship to the perpetrator, or for whose care or guardianship the perpetrator is responsible due to the decision of a government agency."

There is also a close in age exception (Chapter 6, Section 14) "...not sentenced if it is obvious that the act is no violation of the child considered the small difference in age between the person who carries out the act and the child and other circumstances." In a verdict of March 30, 2007, the Supreme Court found that a 17 year old boy had not committed a criminal act by having sexual intercourse with a girl 14 years and 7 months old. (Case B 415-07)

Swedish Criminal Code

[edit] History

Homosexual acts between men were prohibited in Sweden since 1864, then in 1944 homosexual acts between men became legal - but with a higher age of consent of 20 than for heterosexual/lesbian acts which was always set at 15. The age of consent for gay men got lowered again in 1966 to 18 (still 15 for lesbians and heterosexuals). Then the age of consent was finally equalized to 15 regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender in 1978.

[edit] Switzerland

The age of consent in Switzerland is 16, as specified by the Swiss Federal Criminal Code, Article 187(1). However, there exists a close in age exception if the difference between the ages of the participants is three years or less {Art 187(2)}.

Swiss Federal Criminal Code (in French, German and Italian)

[edit] Turkey

The age of consent in Turkey is the age of majority (set at 18 [25]), as specified by the 2004 Turkish Penal Code (Türk Ceza Kanunu, Art. 103 & 104). The breach is punishable from 6 months to 22.5 years of imprisonment depending on the age of the minor, age of the perpetrator and whether the perpetrator is a parent, guardian, caregiver or tutor. The legislation applies to all, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender.

Turkish Penal Code (in Turkish)

[edit] History

The former Turkish Penal Code of 1927 punished having sex with a minor as statutory rape.

[edit] Ukraine

The age of consent in Ukraine is considered to be 16, although it is not specifically set in any one statute.

Article 155 states that sexual intercourse with a sexually immature person shall be punishable. Immaturity is irrefutably presumed in those under 14 {Art. 120CC and court rulings}. Those under 14 are considered children in Ukrainian law, additionally those under 16 are considered minors (generally read from all articles and court rulings).

However, sexual acts with those under 16 that are considered debauchery can also be prosecuted under Article 156.

Article 155 – Sexual intercourse with a sexually immature person

1. Sexual intercourse with a sexually immature person, – shall be punishable by restraint of liberty for a term up to three years or imprisonment for the same term.'' 2. The same actions committed by a parent or surrogate parent, or where they caused sterility or other grave consequences, – shall be punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to five years.[18]

Article 156 – Debauchery of minors

1. Debauched actions committed in regard of a person under 16 years of age, – shall be punishable by arrest for a term up to six months, or restraint of liberty for a term up to three years.'' 2. The same actions committed in regard of a young child, or by a parent or surrogate parent, – shall be punishable by restraint of liberty for a term up to five years, or imprisonment for a term up to three years. [19]

Ukrainian Criminal Code

[edit] United Kingdom (and dependencies)

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state consisting of the jurisdictions of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. UK national age of consent legislation does not apply to its dependencies.

[edit] England and Wales

The age of consent in England and Wales is 16, as specified by the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (section 9). However it is illegal for a person to engage in sexual activity with an individual under the age of 18 if they are in a position of trust in relation to that individual (teacher, warder, carer, guardian, etc).(section 16)

Further reading:

[edit] History

The age of consent for heterosexual acts in England was set at 12 in 1275. It was lowered to 10 in the latter part of the 16th century.[26] The wording was along the lines of "It shall be deemed illegal to ravage a maiden who is not of age" - at the time "of age" being 12. Therefore, there was, and is, technically no age of consent for the male participant - unless the female participant is an adult in which case laws pertaining to sex with a minor and so on come into force. The English law became applicable in Wales following the Acts of Union (1536 and 1543). In medieval Welsh law there was no actual equivalent of the concept of the age of consent as such, but a girl was marriagable at 12-14 (the onset of puberty) and a fine was payable for the taking of a girl's maidenhood by force; the rules varied according to status and may not have been applied rigidly to commoners.[27]

A concern that young girls were being sold into brothels led Parliament to raise the age of consent to 13 in 1875 under the Offences against the Person Act 1875. After W. T. Stead's Maiden Tribute articles, the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 raised the age of consent to 16.

Male-male homosexual activity had been illegal since the Buggery Act 1533 and this was reinforced in the Offences against the Person Act 1861 and the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 extended buggery laws to include any kind of sexual activity between males. It is common folklore that an amendment that would have criminalised lesbian acts was rejected by Queen Victoria because she refused to believe that some women did such things; but it is likelier that those presenting the amendment excluded it (as did the House of Lords 40 years later) on the assumption that it would give women ideas.[28]

Male homosexual acts were decriminalised under the Sexual Offences Act 1967, Section 1, although the age of consent for such acts was set at 21, whereas the age of consent for heterosexual acts was 16. However, the legislation applied only in England and Wales.

In 1994, on the second reading of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, the Conservative Member of Parliament Edwina Currie introduced an amendment to lower the age of consent for homosexual acts to 16, in line with that for heterosexual acts; the amendment was defeated by 308 votes to 280. A compromise amendment that lowered the age of consent to 18 was accepted by 427 votes to 162. Also during the readings were motions to equalise the age of consent to 17 for all, to maintain the age of consent for homosexual acts to 21, and a further attempt to lower the age of consent to 16, all of which were rejected.[citation needed]

In 1997, the European Court of Human Rights case of Sutherland v the United Kingdom held that a higher age of consent for homosexuals than for heterosexuals was a breach of Article 14 in conjunction with Article 8 of the Convention. In response, the Government introduced the Crime and Disorder Bill which contained a provision lowering the age of consent for homosexual acts to 16. Though accepted by the House of Commons, the provision was rejected by the House of Lords. The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, introduced in 1998, contained a similar provision, but once again it was rejected by the House of Lords. The Bill was reintroduced in 2000 and, despite opposition from the House of Lords, was passed under the Parliament Act 1911 (which allows the House of Commons to overrule the House of Lords under certain circumstances). As the Scottish Parliament had been established prior to the reintroduction of the Bill, and the relevant legislation was a devolved issue, the consent of that Parliament under the Sewel Convention was required – had that consent not been granted, the Scottish provisions would have had to be removed and it would not have been possible to use the Parliament Act. The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 thus equalised the age of consent at 16 for all sexual acts (including, for the first time, lesbian acts).

[edit] Scotland

The age of consent in Scotland is 16, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender, as specified by the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 [20] [21].

[edit] History

Male homosexual acts were illegal in Scotland until 1980 when they were decriminalised by the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, Section 80, which specified an age of consent of 21. The Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995 lowered the age of consent of 18 and this was further lowered to 16 by the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 described above. Male rape is recognised along with a complete range of sexual offences under the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 since it came into force on 1 May 2010 - before then it was a form of common law sexual assault [22] [23].

[edit] Northern Ireland

The age of consent in Northern Ireland is 16, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender, as specified by the Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008[29]. The reason the age of consent was lowered to 16 in 2008 with the Order was to bring it in line with the rest of the UK; Criminal Justice Minister Paul Goggins said there was no compelling reason for the age to be different in Northern Ireland than elsewhere.[30]

LGBT rights in the United Kingdom

[edit] History

Gay male sexual conduct was illegal in Northern Ireland until 1982, when they were decriminalised by the Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1982, which specified an age of consent of 21 - in line with the rest of the UK at the time. The change was a result of the judgement in the European Court of Human Rights case of Dudgeon v United Kingdom (1981) in which the ECHR held that a prohibition on homosexual acts was a breach of Article 8 of the Convention. The age of consent for gay male sexual conduct was lowered to 18 in 1994 when the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 was implemented (as to be in line with England and Wales). The age of consent in 2001 was then lowered to 17 for gay male sexual conduct - so that was in line with heterosexual and lesbian sexual conduct, by the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000, Section 1. Then in 2008 the age of consent for all individuals under an Order (mentioned above) was lowered to 16 so it was inline with the rest of the UK. Prior to 2008, the age of consent in Northern Ireland was always 17 for heterosexuals and lesbian sexual conduct.

[edit] Gibraltar

In Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, the age of consent is 16 for heterosexual and female homosexual acts, while the age of consent for male homosexual acts is maintained at 18.

[edit] History

Male homosexual acts have been decriminalised in Gibraltar since 1993, where the above conditions were set. An equal age of consent of 16 for all may be coming soon [24] [25] [26].

[edit] Current developments

The "equal" or "uniform" age of consent legislation in Gibraltar is awaiting a "requête". In the past four years very fierce debates have been held in Gibraltar regarding a "uniform" age of consent of 16, even from the Council of Europe and Gordon Brown in the UK supporting an equal age of consent for all regardless at 16 in all UK Territories. Since 2001, a proposed law has been introduced into the Gibraltar Parliament everytime to equalize the age of consent to 16 for everyone regardless [27]. A "requête" called the Sexual Offences (Equal Age Of Consent) Bill 2010 was introduced and has always failed to pass or get an approval, in 2010 it maybe likely to be passed by the middle or the end of the year [28]. Currently under all these; Intervention by the Prime Minister of the UK, constitutional mandates, court cases, treaties with the EU, the Council of Europe, law(s) or legislation under investigation, intervening, reviewing, accessing and maybe getting equalised very soon. [29] [30] [31] [32].

Further reading

LGBT rights in Gibraltar
GGR takes Discrimination Violations to Council of Europe Ministers (11 January 2008)
Gibraltar gays take age of consent fight to Europe (10 January 2008)
Council of Europe Publishes Gibraltar Gay Discrimination Issue (9 January 2008)
GWA states it can fight its own battles after Council of Europe officially tables Gib discrimination issue (8 January 2008)
GGR takes Discrimination Violations to Council of Europe Ministers (8 January 2008)
Govt has ‘no right to spy in bedrooms’ (16 November 2007)
Cashman Confirms Brown to Look Into Age of Consent Issue (22 October 2007)
GGR: “No 6 is in Denial” (22 October 2007)
PM pledges action on Gibraltar age of consent (17 October 2007)
"Interventions work best when confrunting issues head-on" (16 October 2007)
GGR Welcomes British PM’s Intervention on Age of Consent (16 October 2007)
Gay Rights Group Welcomes Intervention of British Prime Minister (October 16, 2007)
MEP Cashman to Raise Gib Equality Issue Personally with PM Gordon Brown (9 October 2007)
GGR Makes Submission to UK Parliament (9 October 2007 )
Gay Age of Consent Equality: ‘We Have Given Gibraltarian Government Long Enough’ (October 8, 2007)
Tatchell slams Gibraltar over gay rights (3 October 2007)
Gibraltar gay rights record criticised (January 29, 2007).

[edit] Guernsey (Including Alderney, Herm and Sark)

The age of consent in the Bailiwick of Guernsey (a Crown Dependency including Alderney, Herm and Sark) is 16, regardless of gender and/or sexual orientation since March 2010 by a law that was passed.[31]

[edit] History

In 1983, male homosexual acts were decriminalised with the age of consent set at 21. In 1999 the age of consent for male homosexual acts was lowered to 18. [33] The age of consent for male homosexual acts was equalised at 16 for everyone in March 2010 by a recently passed law.[31]

[edit] Current developments

The age of consent legislation in the Bailiwick of Guernsey (including Alderney, Herm and Sark) has only just recently been made equal. A new age of consent law at 16 for everyone has been debated by the local parliament and recently passed into law in March 2010 [32]

[edit] Isle of Man

The age of consent in the Isle of Man, a Crown Dependency, is 16, last amended in September 1, 2006 [34].

[edit] History

Prior to September 1992, ****** was illegal, then in October 1992 (after assent) the age of consent was set at 21 for ****** (in line with the UK at that time), then in 2001, the age of consent for male homosexual acts was lowered to 18. In 2006, the age of consent was lowered to 16, became gender-neutral for all sexual conduct, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender.

See also:

LGBT rights in the Isle of Man

[edit] Jersey

The age of consent in the Bailiwick of Jersey, a Crown Dependency, is 16, last amended in 2007.[33]

[edit] History

Prior to 1990, sodomie (******) was illegal[34] in Jersey for both men and women until 1990 although the age of consent for homosexual acts other than ****** was the same as for heterosexual acts. In 1990 the age of consent for ****** between consenting males was set at 21 (the UK at that time maintained the age of consent of 21 for all homosexual acts between males) [35]. In 1995, the sodomie AoC became 18 (under the Sexual Offences (Jersey) Law 1995). In 2007, the age of consent was lowered to 16, became gender-neutral for all sexual conduct (including sodomie); regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender.

Further reading

Sexual Offences (Jersey) Law 2007 (became gender-neutral for all sexual conduct, including sodomie; regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender at 16, effective since 1 May 2007)

[edit] Vatican State

There is an equal age of consent set at 12 years of age in Art. 331 (1).[35][36][37] When there is a relationship of dependence (like teacher/student, etc.) the age of consent is 15 years in Art. 331 (2).[35][37]

The criminal law was introduced 1929 and was the same law as the Codice Penale in Italy on 8 June 1929. Because of the death penalty, reintroduced in 1926 in Italy, the reference point was changed in 1969 to 31 December 1924, but this has no effect on the age of consent laws. The age of consent in the Codice Penale from Italy was changed in 1930, but this no longer had any effect on Vatican City. Vatican law provides that criminal suspects arrested in Vatican City are to be tried under Vatican law in Italian courts, while those who escape to Italy before their arrest are to be tried under Italian law, even if their alleged crime occurred on Vatican territory.[35]

[edit] Further reading

[edit] Worldwide age of consent

Worldwide ages of consent (last updated April 6, 2010)

[edit] References

^ a b [1]
^ George Psyllides (6 July 2002). "Gays Ruling 'Too Little, Too Late'". Cyprus Mail.
^ http://www.ihf-hr.org/viewbinary/viewdocument.php?doc_id=2059
^ (Icelandic) The Icelandic Penal Code
202. gr. Hver sem hefur samræði eða önnur kynferðismök við barn, yngra en 15[fimmtán] ára, skal sæta fangelsi ekki skemur en 1[eitt] ár og allt að 16[sextán] árum. Section 202 Anyone who has carnal intercourse or other sexual intimacy with a child younger than 15 years shall be subject to imprisonment for at least 1 year and up to 16 years.
^ Hver er samræðisaldur á Íslandi? ("What is the age of consent in Iceland?") on Vísindavefurinn
^ "Art. 609 quarter C.P. - Atti sessuali con minorenne" (in Italian). http://isd.olografix.org/faq/cod_pen.htm#minorenne. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
^ "Art. 609 sexies C.P. - Ignoranza dell`età della persona offesa" (in Italian). http://isd.olografix.org/faq/cod_pen.htm#et%C3%A0. Retrieved 24 August 2009. "...il colpevole non può invocare, a propri

a, l`ignoranza dell`età della persona offesa", which translates to "the accused may not invoke ignorance of the victim's age".

^ "Art. 609 quinquies C.P. - Corruzione di minorenne" (in Italian). http://isd.olografix.org/faq/cod_pen.htm#corruzione. Retrieved 17 August 2009.
^ a b CRIMINAL CODE CHAPTER 9, 10th June, 1854 - last amended III of 2004, legislationline.org
^ a b Christian Attard: Summary of legislation implementing "Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation" with respect to sexual orientation in Malta, 2005, law.leiden.edu
^ CHAPTER 16 CIVIL CODE, docs.justice.gov.mt
^ IL-PULIZIJA SPETTUR LOUISE CALLEJA VS. GIUSEPPE ZAMMIT, Numru 568/2005, 2008-09-28, QORTI TAL-MAGISTRATI (MALTA) BHALA QORTI TA' GUDIKATURA KRIMINALI (Court of magistrates (Malta) as a court of criminal judicature), docs.justice.gov.mt
^ Police vs. Spiru Silvio, judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeal (Inferior) of 12 March 1960
^ Ex-religion teacher confesses to defilement via SMS, timesofmalta.com.mt, 2008-04-23
^ Brothers acquitted of defiling girl, timesofmalta.com, 2008-04-28
^ POLICE INSPECTOR TEREZA SCIBERRAS, INSPECTOR RAYMOND AQUILINA VS. SEBASTIAN FRANCIS De BONO, ZACHARY De BONO, Number 914/2004, 2008-04-23, COURT OF MAGISTRATES (MALTA) AS A COURT OF CRIMINAL JUDICATURE, docs.justice.gov.mt
^ The Police v. Arshad Nawaz, Criminal Appeal Number. 170/2007, 2007-06-11, MALTA - COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL, docs.justice.gov.mt
^ Man accused of defilement, timesofmalta.com.mt, 2008-09-02
^ Three admit indecent acts, timesofmalta.com.mt, 2008-08-27
^ Hotel manager charged with defiling boy, 14, timesofmalta.com.mt, 2008-08-22
^ [2]
^ [3] Interpol
^ Part 2 of the unofficial English translation of the Polish Criminal Code.
^ [4]
^ [5]
^ Olszewski, Daryl J (2006). "Statutory Rape in Wisconsin: History, Rationale, and the Need for Reform". Marquette Law Review 89 (3). http://law.marquette.edu/lawreview/Spring%202006/Olszewski.pdf.
^ Dafydd Jenkins and Morfydd E. Owen (eds.), The Welsh Law of Women (University of Wales Press, 1980), pp. 48, 71, et seq..
^ House of Commons Research Paper 99/4 21 January 1999: The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill: ‘Age of consent’ and abuse of a position of trust (Bill 10 of 1998-99) [6]
^ OPSI
^ [7]
^ a b http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/03/25/guernsey-equalises-gay-age-of-consent/
^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/guernsey/8550516.stm
^ Sexual Offences (Jersey) Law 2007
^ Loi (1938) modifiant le droit criminel (sodomie et bestialité)
^ a b c Helmut Graupner: Sexualität, Jugendschutz und Menschenrechte - Band 2, Verlag Peter Lang, Frankfurt - Berlin - Bern - New York - Paris - Wien 1997, ISBN 3-631-31790-5, Vatican State: pages 700ff
^ Crawley, William (2008-12-12). "Vatican opposes UN Declaration on decriminalisation of homosexuality". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ni/2008/12/vatican_opposes_un_declaration.html. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
^ a b Majno, Luigi (1894). Commento al codice penale italiano, Part 2. Verona, Italy: Donato Tedeschi e figli. pp.51. http://books.google.com/books?id=cc8nAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA51#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 7 may 2010.

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AGES OF CONSENT - WORLDWIDE

eightdogs — Fri, 21 May 2010 03:49:34 CDT

AGES OF CONSENT WORLDWIDE

Age of consent

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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This article is about the legal concept regarding sexual activity. For other uses, see Age of consent (disambiguation).

Sex and the law

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Age of consent· Antisexualism
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While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes,[1] when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent of consenting to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual activities. It should not be confused with the age of majority, age of criminal responsibility, the marriageable age, the age at which one can purchase and consume alcoholic beverages, or drive a car, or other purposes.

The age of consent varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.[1] The relevant age may also vary by the type of sexual act, the sex of the actors, or other restrictions such as abuse of a position of trust. Some jurisdictions may also make allowances for minors engaged in sexual acts with each other, rather than a single age. Charges resulting from a breach of these laws may range from a relatively low-level misdemeanor such as corruption of a minor, to statutory rape (which is considered equivalent to rape, both in severity and sentencing).

There are many grey areas in this area of law, some regarding unspecific and untried legislation, others brought about by debates regarding changing societal attitudes, and others due to conflicts between federal and state laws. These factors all make age of consent an often confusing subject, and a topic of highly charged debates.[1]

[hide]

[edit] Social attitudes

Social (and the resulting legal) attitudes toward the appropriate age of consent have drifted upwards in modern times. For example, while ages from 10 to 13 were typically acceptable in western countries during the mid-19th century,[1] 14 to 18 had become the norm in many countries by the end of the 20th century.[citation needed]

[edit] Law

Age of consent laws for sex Worldwide

Sexual relations with a person under the age of consent is in general a criminal offence, with punishments ranging from community service up to the death penalty.[citation needed] Many different terms exist for the charges laid and include child sexual abuse, statutory rape, illegal carnal knowledge, and corruption of a minor.[1]

The enforcement practices of age-of-consent laws vary depending on the social sensibilities of the particular culture (see above). Often, enforcement is not exercised to the letter of the law, with legal action being taken only when a sufficiently socially-unacceptable age gap exists between the two individuals, or if the perpetrator is in a position of authority over the minor (e.g., a teacher, minister, or doctor). The sex of each actor can also influence perceptions of an individual's guilt and therefore enforcement.[1]

[edit] Defences and exceptions

The age of consent is a legal barrier to the minor ability to consent and therefore obtaining consent is not in general a defence to having sexual relations with a person under the prescribed age. Common examples:

Reasonably believe that the victim is over the age of consent—in some jurisdictions, (such as England and Wales [2]), it is a defence if the accused can show that he or she reasonably believed the victim was over the age of consent. However, where such a defence is provided, it normally applies only when the victim is close to the age of consent or the accused can show due diligence in determining the age of the victim (e.g., a 15-year-old who used a fake identification document to enter a bar for persons 18 and older).[3]
Marriage—in those jurisdictions where the marriageable age is less than the age of consent.[citation needed]
Rape—where someone under the age of consent detains and rapes someone over the age of consent.[citation needed]
Close-in-age—while most legislation dealing with age of consent sets a single age under which sexual relations are illegal, some jurisdictions (such as Canada [4]), have adopted close-in-age exemptions. In Canada the age of consent is 16, but there are two close-in-age exemptions: teenagers who are 14 or 15 may have sex with a partner who is less than five years older, and children aged 12 and 13 may have sex with a partner who is less than two years older. In the United States, these exceptions are colloquially known as "Romeo and Juliet" laws.

These different defences can change dramatically from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, even between neighbouring states of the same union with the same age of consent.

[edit] Discrepancies and inconsistencies

The age of consent is not always constant even within the same jurisdiction, in many countries there are a number of discrepancies. Common examples include:

Homosexual and heterosexual age discrepancies– some jurisdictions, such as The Bahamas, Bermuda, Chile, Gibraltar, Greece, Paraguay and Suriname, have a higher age of consent for homosexual intercourse. However, such disparities are increasingly being challenged. In Canada, and the Australian state of Queensland, the age of consent for anal sex is officially higher at 18, compared with 16 for vaginal and oral sex.[5][6] In Ontario and Quebec provinces in Canada, this difference is declared unconstitutional by courts.[7][8]
Gender age discrepancies– in some jurisdictions, (such as Indonesia [9]), there are different ages of consent for heterosexual sexual activity based on the gender of each person. In countries where there is a gender different for heterosexual activity usually females are lower than male for example in Indonesia males have to be of 19 years old and females 16 years old.[9] There are also a number of jurisdictions which have this gender different generated due to the laws governing marriage, (such as Kuwait [10] and Palestine [11]), in these jurisdictions it is illegal to have sexual intercourse outside of marriage so the de facto age of consent is the marriageable age. In Kuwait this therefore means that girls have to be at least 15 years old and boys 17 years old.
Position of authority/trust– in some parts of the world, (such as England and Wales[12]), in cases where a person is in a position of trust over a child or young person the age of consent is set higher. Examples include a teacher and student.

[edit] Onset of puberty as the age of consent

In some countries there is no fixed age of consent. Instead, sex is allowed with people who are sexually mature (see: puberty). In females it means passing menarche, the first menstrual bleeding.

Yemen, but only in marriage (more information)
Nayarit and Querétaro in Mexico (more information)
Bolivia (more information)

[edit] Extraterritoriality

Increasingly the age of consent laws of a state are applied not only to acts committed on its own territory, but also acts committed by its nationals or inhabitants on foreign territory.[1] Such provisions have been frequently adopted to help reduce the incidence of child sex tourism.

[edit] Statutory rape

Main article: Statutory rape

Where a jurisdiction's age of consent laws for sexual activity treat those convicted of those laws with the same severity as other forms of rape the law is often referred to as statutory rape. The different titles of age of consent laws include statutory rape, rape of a child, corruption of a minor, carnal knowledge of a minor and others. However, in the vernacular many of these terms are interchangeable and little differentiation is made.

[edit] Other concerns

[edit] Marriage

Main article: Marriageable age

The age at which a person can be legally married can also differ from the age of consent. In jurisdictions where the marriageable age is lower than the age of consent, those laws override the age of consent laws, at least as they apply to the spouse. Further still, some jurisdictions prohibit any sex outside of marriage, which can take place at any age, as in the case of Yemen.

[edit] Pornography

Main article: Child pornography

Variations also exist in some countries between the age of consent and the age at which an individual can appear in pornographic images and films. In many jurisdictions, the minimum age for legal participation and even viewing of such productions is 18. Films and images showing individuals under the age of 18 (or who appear to be under in some jurisdictions[citation needed]) in applicable jurisdictions can be classified as child pornography, even though the legal age of consent in those same jurisdictions is lower than 17.

[edit] Prostitution

Main article: Prostitution of children

While the legality of adult prostitution varies among different parts of the world, the prostitution of minors is illegal in most countries. Furthermore, some countries enforce worldwide jurisdiction over any involvement in child prostitution by their nationals.

[edit] Initiatives to change the age of consent

Main article: Age of consent reform

This law-related article does not cite its references or sources. You can help Wikipedia by including appropriate citations, which can be found through legal research.

Age of consent reform refers to the efforts of some individuals or groups, for different reasons and with varying arguments, to raise, lower, abolish or otherwise alter age of consent laws. These efforts advocate five main positions:

An introduction of close-in-age exceptions.
A change in the way age of consent laws are examined in court.
An increase in the ages of consent, more severe penalties for violation of these laws or both.
A decrease in the ages of consent, less severe penalties for violation of these laws or both.
To abolish the age of consent laws altogether or as a temporary practical expedient.

[edit] Ages of consent in various countries

Specific jurisdictions' laws relating to age of consent can be found, organized by continent, on the following pages:

There are no specific age of consent laws in the Antarctic. In the unlikely event of a minor engaging in sexual activity, under the Antarctic Treaty, scientists and support staff stationed there may be subject to the laws of the country of which they are nationals. Other visitors to the continent may need to follow the laws of the country in which their expedition is organized, or the country from which it departs.[13]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ a b c d e f g Waites, Matthew (2005). The Age of Consent: Young People, Sexuality and Citizenship. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-2173-3. OCLC 58604878 238887395 58604878.
^ "Sexual Offences Act 2003 (See Sections 9 to 12)" (PDF). Published by the Government of the United Kingdom, (Office of Public Sector Information). http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/pdf/ukpga_20030042_en.pdf.
^ Larry W. Myers (1965). "Reasonable Mistake of Age: A Needed Defence to Statutory Rape". Michigan Law Review 64 (1): 105–136. - [1]. doi:10.2307/1287118.
^ "Canada's age of consent raised by 2 years". CBC News. 2008-05-01. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/05/01/crime-bill.html. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
^ "159. ANAL INTERCOURSE". Efc.ca. http://www.efc.ca/pages/law/cc/cc.159.html. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
^ "CRIMINAL CODE 1899 - SECT 208 208 Unlawful ******". Austlii.edu.au. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_act/cc189994/s208.html. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
^ "Mixed reviews to Tories' sexual consent bill - CTV News". Ctv.ca. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060622/age_consent_060622/20060623/. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
^ "Egale Canada > The State of the Play". Egale.ca. http://www.egale.ca/index.asp?item=468. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
^ a b "Sexual Offences Laws - Indonesia". Interpol. http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/csaIndonesia.asp. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
^ "Summary record of the 488th meeting: Kuwait". Committee on the Rights of the Child. http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/2f5665ae20b956cb8025675a0033cafb?Opendocument. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
^ "Palestinian Territories of West Bank and Gaza Strip - Marriage Age". Emory Law. http://www.law.emory.edu/ifl/legal/palestine.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
^ "Sexual Offences Act 2003 (See Sections 16 to 24)" (PDF). Published by the Government of the United Kingdom, (Office of Public Sector Information). http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/pdf/ukpga_20030042_en.pdf.
^ "What is the treaty?". Australian Antarctic Division. 2006-03-23. http://www.aad.gov.au/default.asp?casid=78. Retrieved 2006-07-18.

[edit] Further reading

Published books on the subject:

Waites, Matthew (2005) The Age of Consent: Young People, Sexuality and Citizenship, (New York [United States] and Houndmills, Basingstoke [United Kingdom]: Palgrave Macmillan) ISBN 1-4039-2173-3

[edit] External links

Legislation of Interpol member states on sexual offenses against children (Some information may be out of date)

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