Must be married no data available / other Africa Canada, Brazil, India and Russia) are presented without internal federative divisions. Federal states in which all federative units adopt the same age of consent (e.g. Australia, Mexico and the United States are federal states where the age of consent varies from federative unit to federative unit. Īge of consent for heterosexual sex in various countries. These factors all make age of consent an often confusing subject and a topic of highly charged debates. 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. Charges and penalties resulting from a breach of these laws may range from a misdemeanor, such as corruption of a minor, to what is popularly called statutory rape. The laws may also vary by the type of sexual act, the gender of the participants or other considerations, such as involving a position of trust some jurisdictions may also make allowances for minors engaged in sexual acts with each other, rather than a single age. It should not be confused with other laws regarding age minimums including, but not limited to, the age of majority, age of criminal responsibility, voting age, drinking age, and driving age.Īge of consent laws vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, though most jurisdictions set the age of consent in the range 14 to 18. It has sometimes been used with other meanings, such as the age at which a person becomes competent to consent to marriage, but the meaning given above is the one now generally understood. : 1–2 Generally, a law will establish the age below which it is illegal to engage in sexual activity with that person.
The term age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes. One purpose of setting an age of consent is to protect an underage person from sexual advances. The person below the minimum age is regarded as the victim, and their sex partner is regarded as the offender, unless both are underage. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally claim that the sexual activity was consensual, and such sexual activity may be considered child sexual abuse or statutory rape. The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts.
Unlike the oldies and classic rock canons, which are forced to update their timeline parameters every so often (or at least shed some old songs to make room for the new), being a Christmas standard is a lifetime appointment. Well, maybe for ten months of the year, it goes into hibernation - but you know it’ll be back next November at the latest, and it’ll include the same songs it has for your entire life. It’s music for the most wonderful time of the year, even if it always makes you cry.Īnd it never goes away. It evokes a visceral, nearly oppressive sentimentality, one fortified and strengthened by a lifetime’s worth of associated holiday memories - personal, familial, romantic, nostalgic. The things that make Christmas songs great - whether carols, old pop standards or newer enduring hits - are most of the same things that make pop great in general: emotional connection, universal relatability, unshakeable catchiness.īut Christmas music has a wavelength entirely its own, shared by an overwhelming majority of its most recognizable classics: a sort of sublime yearning that’s at once profoundly saddening and deeply comforting. There’s a reason that listeners seem to get more anxious every year for the Christmas music season to start: Nothing else feels quite like it.