Commentary The report (pdf), from a consortium of U.N.-backed agencies, is shocking: There’s nothing necessarily wrong with adults having sex with children. That is, as long as the sex is “consensual” and the young person involved possesses sufficient “maturity” to “make decisions about engaging in consensual sexual conduct.” The document, issued in March by the…

Commentary It was widely reported on Aug. 3 that a man in New Zealand accused of sexually abusing two girls, aged eight and 12, relied on a New Zealand law in his defence stating that a person under 16 can consent to sexual intercourse. The accused, Tulisi Leiataua, denied the prosecution’s allegations of rape, indecent…

Religious advocates have warned about the consequences of mandating consent education in school curriculums in the wake of a nationwide movement in Australia. From 2023, all Australian schools will be required to teach consent education—which includes coercion, gendered stereotypes and power imbalances—from foundation to Year 10. On Feb. 17, Sen. Jonathon Duniam, who is representing…

With a nod to China’s forced organ harvesting, UK lawmakers have slipped in an amendment to a bill on medicines that means proof of consent for human tissues from overseas may be demanded. Proponents of the measure—which tackles only the use of human tissue in medicines—acknowledge that it is largely symbolic, but describe it as a…