With the current review of the legal smoking age in the UK, we were really interested in looking at the legal age for other activities in the UK and how that age compares to the rest of the world. The age of consent in Italy is 14 years and increases to 16 years if one participant occupies a position of authority or influence over the other (teacher, clergyman, etc.). In addition, it is illegal to engage in sexual acts if a person under the age of 14 is present to observe them, even if the minor does not participate. Sexual activity with a prostitute under the age of 18 is illegal in Italy. In addition, Italy has an age limit rule that allows 13-year-olds to legally consent to partners under three years older (or less). From smoking and drinking to voting and piercing, young people around the world are limited in the activities they can participate in until a certain age. But what significant differences are there between the world`s major countries and their legal age? Age of consent laws vary considerably from country to country. Most countries require young people to be at least 14 years old before having sex. But there are exceptions. Angola and the Philippines have both set the age of consent at 12, the lowest in the world. Several other countries, including Niger and Japan, have set the age of consent at 13 – although Japan has notoriously inconsistent consent laws that give different ages of consent ranging from 13 to 20 depending on where you are in the country.
In addition, several countries in Asia and Africa require individuals to be married before they can legally have sex. These include Libya, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, all of which are very conservative on issues of gender and sexuality. The age of majority can be confused with the similar concept of the age of bachelor`s degree,[1] which also refers to the threshold of adulthood, but in a much broader and abstract way. As a legal term in art, “license” means “permission” and may imply a legally enforceable right or privilege. So a licensing age is an age at which you have legal permission from the government to do something. The age of majority, on the other hand, is the legal recognition that you have grown up. [2] Only three countries fall into this category. The first is Niue, an ocean country where sexual activity can only be legal if the partners are 19 or older. The second is South Korea, where the age of consent is 20, and finally, there is Bahrain, where sexual relations are prohibited for people under 21. Bahrain has the highest legal age of consent in the world. According to Japan`s Penal Code, the legal age of consent in Japan is 13 and any sexual activity with anyone under the age of 13 is illegal.
However, according to other local laws in the country, the de facto age of consent is 16. Burkina Faso, Comoros, Niger and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic also have an age of consent of 13. In 32 other countries, including Albania, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Eritrea, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Myanmar, Colombia and Portugal, the age limit is 14. The legal age at which sexual activity can be consented to is between 11 and 21 in various countries around the world. However, some countries do not have a specific age of consent because they prohibit sexual relations outside of marriage. Nigeria, an African country, has the lowest age of consent in the world, while Bahrain, an Asian country, has the highest legal age of consent. The age at which a person is considered legally capable of consenting to sexual activity varies widely around the world – and even in Europe. In Cyprus, Ireland, Mexico and Nauru, you cannot legally consent to sex until you are 17.
Another 40 countries, including Kenya, Iraq, Nicaragua, Vatican City, Vietnam, Argentina, Rwanda, India and Guatemala, prohibit sexual activities with partners under the age of 18. Buying and drinking alcohol is an act that most people associate with the age of 18 or 21 for young people in America. Indeed, alcohol consumption among adolescents is linked to various health and social problems. In Japan (20), South Korea (19) and Canada (19), the legal drinking age is slightly higher than in the United Kingdom, where the legal drinking age is 18. A person over the age of 21 may have sexual intercourse with a person who is 14 years of age or older, but not yet 16 years of age, provided that his or her inability to self-determine sexually is not exploited. If this is the case, the youngest person should file a complaint against the person over 21 years of age in order to take legal action. Sexual acts performed without consent or with violence in any situation are illegal. It is fascinating to see how the legal age differs from that of the UK. We are so fixated here, and it can be confusing to see how some legal ages of majority are much higher or lower in other countries. While in some cases age in other countries is questionable and sometimes troubling, we need to understand that cultures around the world follow different rules and have different beliefs. The age of consent in Europe, Asia or another continent varies by country and territory. The age of consent is between 12 and 21 years, with most countries between 14 and 16 years.
Nearly a dozen countries, including Iran, Qatar, Yemen and Afghanistan, completely ban premarital sex but have no age restrictions on marital sex. Several other countries have an age of consent above 16, including Cyprus (17), Ireland (17), Turkey (18), Iraq (18), Vietnam (18) and Bahrain (21). In addition, some countries provide for age-related exceptions, others do not. Participation in political elections is in most cases a right acquired by persons aged 18 and over. In the UK, the legal age is 18, Australia (16) and Israel (17) are slightly younger. In the United Arab Emirates, the legal voting age is significantly higher at 25, as the country elects and appoints half of its National Council. Of the 190 countries, 61% have an alcohol consumption age of 18 or 19. The United States and 11 other countries have an MLDA of 21, the highest MLDA of any country where it is legal to drink (although some parts of India have drinking ages of 25 and 30). Alcohol is banned in 16 countries, all Muslim, although some have exceptions for non-Muslims.