Age of consent in Africa

[3] Some online sources incorrectly list the age of consent as 12, but article 192 criminalizes all sexual acts with persons under 14 (penalties are aggravated if there is penetration or if the victim is under 12).

[8] 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.

This appears subjective as to what acts, in what situations, may be considered to encourage debauchery or corruption (when involving minors aged 16 or above).

Article 145 makes it illegal to engage in sexual acts with a 14- to 15-year-old if, being an adult, the offender takes advantage of their superiority (power or control) in the relationship, or if the victim is entrusted to them for education or assistance.

Article 354 proscribes 3 months to 2 years' imprisonment for sexual relations with a member of the same sex, thus making homosexuality illegal.

Finally, Article 363 criminalizes anyone who excites, promotes, or facilitates the "debauchery" of anyone below the age of civil majority, which is 21 years in Chad.

Article 301 of the penal code punishes any indecent assault (or attempt) irrefutably presumed as without consent against the person of a child of either sex under age 18.

Although Djiboutian law establishes that parties to a marriage should be 18 or over, there is an exemption in cases where minors may marry with the consent of their guardians.

This charge could be applied to those who engage in sexual activity with minors aged 15–17, though the requirements for "organizing meetings" are not specified.

This article states that sexual acts with minors of this age is a petty offense punishable by 6–12 months' imprisonment.

Article 311 Consent to Sexual Conduct (1) states that when an accused is charged with an offense under the chapter (chapter 3: sexual offenses, which spans articles 303–311) pertaining to a victim under 15 years, it shall not be a defense that the victim consented, unless the accused is also under age 15 and no more than 1 year older than that person.

Article 263 prescribes 1–5 years' imprisonment for anyone who "habitually" incites, promotes, or facilitates debauchery or corruption of persons of either sex below age 18.

Article 272 of the penal code states that any indecent act committed without violence against a child of either sex under age 16 is punishable by imprisonment for 3–10 years.

Article 134 of the code states (approximate translation) that those who practice copulation with females older than 12 but younger than 16 by "taking advantage of their inexperience" are guilty of sexual abuse, punishable by 2 to 8 years' imprisonment, or 1 to 5 years for "significant sexual acts" with males or females not amounting to copulation.

The third and final paragraph states that if the agent—WITHOUT resorting to violence, serious threat or coercion (the presence of any of those conditions could be charged as rape under Article 133)—engages in copulation or a significant sexual act with a female person, or the latter with a male person, 12 years of age or less, it is presumed, until it is well founded, that he has taken advantage of the victim's incapacity for sexual determination and is punishable by imprisonment of between two and ten years.

Article 225 of the updated 2001 Penal Code states that indecent assault committed against a child under age 15 without violence is punishable by 5–10 years' imprisonment.

Acts of sexual touching of any nature whatsoever, committed against a child constitutes the crime of pedophilia and sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 ouguiyas.

Premarital sex is illegal in Morocco, with punishment of 1 month to 1 year's imprisonment (Penal Code Article 490).

484 of the Penal Code provides harsher penalties (2–5 years) for committing sexual acts without violence on a victim younger than 18.

Article 293 prohibits anyone from "habitually arousing, favoring, or facilitating the debauchery or corruption of the youth of either sex under 21 years".

[70] The Sexual Offenses Bill (2018) amended the existing penal code and established the age of consent to be 18 years.

[73] Under the Roman-Dutch common law there was a conclusive presumption that girls under the age of 12 were unable to consent to sexual intercourse.

The Immorality Amendment Act, 1988 inserted mirror provisions applying to women, prohibiting intercourse between a woman and a boy under 16 or a girl under 19.

As a result, the Constitutional Court struck down the laws prohibiting homosexual sex in the 1998 case of National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality v Minister of Justice.

That case did not, however, address the difference between the heterosexual and homosexual ages of consent in section 14 of the Sexual Offences Act.

In the 2008 case of Geldenhuys v National Director of Public Prosecutions, the Constitutional Court held that the former difference in the ages of consent had been unconstitutional.

[77][78][79][80] The age of consent in the Canary Islands, Ceuta, Melilla and the plazas de soberanía is 16 regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender, as of 1 July 2015,[81] as they are under Spanish sovereignty.

Article 389 increases the penalties for indecent assault when committed against a child, but does not specify any particular age at which consent is negated.

[87][88] "Heterosexual sodomy" (anal and/or oral sex with an opposite-sex partner) and all same-sex sexual conduct are illegal.

[89] Article 137 reads in part as follows: (1) Any person who unlawfully and indecently assaults any woman or girl is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.