Philippines poised to lift age of consent for sex from 12 to 16 after decades of lobbying from children’s rights activists
- Campaigners say the legislation would help protect youngsters in a nation that has become a global hotspot for online child sex abuse
- Prosecuting adult perpetrators in rape cases involving children as young as 12 has been difficult because they can argue the sex was consensual
The Catholic-majority country has one of the lowest ages of consent in the world, allowing adults to legally have sex with children as young as 12. Congress now looks set to approve a bill to raise the age to 16.
Children’s rights activists have lobbied for decades to increase the age – enshrined in the penal code since 1930 – but faced resistance from what they describe as a “culture of patriarchy” in a country where abortion and divorce are illegal.
“This is a victory for Filipino children,” Patrizia Benvenuti, Unicef’s chief of child protection in the Philippines, said recently as the proposed legislation moved closer to a final vote. “Pegging 12 as the age of consent is really not consistent with scientific studies on brain development.”
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Philippines to raise age of sexual consent from 12 to 16