According to the section 9 (1) of the Women and Child Abuse Prevention Act, 2003, it is defined as rape to have sexual intercourse with a woman with or without her consent, when she is under sixteen (16) years of age.
[40] The age of consent in this country is determined by Article 8, of Chapter 4 (Debauchery) of the Law on Suppression of the Kidnapping, Trafficking, and Exploitation of Human Beings, which has been specifically enacted to prohibit sex with children under 15.
[54] Under s.124 of the Crimes Ordinance (Cap.200),[53] a man who has unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 16 shall be liable to imprisonment for 5 years.
Under s.123 of the Crimes Ordinance,[55] a man who has unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13 shall be liable to imprisonment for life.
The law was changed after a 13-year-old boy attacked a 5-year-old girl at a Chai Wan hospital ward; the prosecution was unable to convict him of rape, instead only able to do so for indecent assault.
[62] In 1892, the marital rape and subsequent death of a 10-year-old girl, Phulmoni Dasi, caused the age of consent to be raised from 10 to 12.
[63] On 3 April 2014 the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 came into effect, which raised the legal permissible age for sexual consent from 16 to 18.
Although the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 initially sought to lower the age to 16, it was set at 18 due to political pressure from conservative parties.
A Public Interest Litigation filled by Independent Thought, an organization working on child rights law, was heard in the Supreme Court of India for declaring the exception allowing marital rape within prohibited child marriages as unconstitutional: Independent Thought vs. Union of India [W.P(civil) 382 of 2013].
In the judgment, delivered on 11 October, the Supreme Court bench consisting of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta read down Exception 2 to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to hold that sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife if she is below 15 years of age would amount to rape.
The law was constitutionally challenged and subsequently read down by the Delhi High Court in 2009 for violating the human rights of sexual minorities.
Even though the age of consent is 15 years old, the offender can only be charged and prosecuted if a legal complaint is lodged to the law enforcement.
"Any person who sexually assaults a boy or girl under the age of 18 without the use of force, menaces or deception is punishable by detention..." "Any person who has sexual intercourse with a female relative to the third generation under the age of 15 with her consent and the offence leads to her death, to pregnancy or loss of virginity [is punishable by jail].
[78] However, a revised bill was passed in January 2025 which reinstated the clauses of the previous amendment following protests in Iraq along with backlash from both international and local civil society groups.
[82] In 2017, Article 177 was amended to specify vaginal, anal, and oral intercourse, to apply to all persons instead of females, and to increase the minimum sentence to 5 years.
[85] A 1985 decision of the Supreme Court of Japan held that the ordinances were not to be broadly interpreted as forbidding all sexual acts with adolescents, but only those "conducted by unfair means that take advantage of the juvenile's mental or physical immaturity, such as by enticing, threatening, deceiving, or confusing, as well as [acts] where the juvenile is treated merely as an object to satisfy one's own sexual desires.
"[87][86] The Supreme Court also ruled that sexual acts within "socially accepted norms", such as within marriage, engagement, or a "similar sincere relationship", were not "indecent".
[81] The age of consent in Jordan is set at 18 years old, regardless of gender and/or sexual orientation, according to the country's penal code.
[104] However, while consensual sex with a person under age 18 is not statutory rape, it is still a violation of the law if the child is found to be "exploited in prostitution or subject to other sexual abuse".
The courts have specified that "influence" means "improper use of power or trust in any way that deprives a person of free will and substitutes another's objective".
(b) Any person who shall keep or have in his company a minor, twelve (12) years or under or who in ten (10) years or more his junior in any public or private place, hotel, motel, beer joint, discotheque, cabaret, pension house, sauna or massage parlor, beach and/or other tourist resort or similar places shall suffer the penalty of prison mayor in its maximum period and a fine of not less than Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000): Provided, That this provision shall not apply to any person who is related within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity or any bond recognized by law, local custom and tradition or acts in the performance of a social, moral or legal duty.
In addition, Sections 375, 376, 376A, 376AA, 376EA, 376EC, 376EE, 377BL and 377D criminalize sexual activity with individuals below the age of 18 if the relationship is deemed exploitative of the younger person.
It also stipulates that - unless the accused is married to the younger partner - such relationships will be deemed exploitative until proven otherwise, if: In addition, Section 376B criminalizes commercial sexual activity with youth under 18 - regardless of whether it occurs within or outside Singapore.
[126] A high-profile example of this application of the law was a statutory rape charge filed against the lead singer of the Thai band Big Ass for allegedly having had sex with a (then) 16-year-old girl.
The singer has since been cleared of being the baby's father due to the results of a paternity test and he received 2 years suspended sentence.
According to Article 104 of the Turkish Penal Code (Türk Ceza Kanunu), sexual intercourse with minors aged 15, 16 and 17 can only be prosecuted upon a complaint.
The new penal code of 2004 also set the age of consent for both heterosexual and homosexual sex at 18, with some differences, such as the act of having sexual intercourse with a minor over 15 being punishable upon a complaint.
However, in November 2021, the country have instated a new penal code that reintroduces the criminalization of consensual sex outside of marriage, which had been dropped from the older law as part of the 2020 amendments.
Now, "Yemeni law allows a girl of any age to wed, but it forbids sex with them until the indefinite time they are suitable for sexual intercourse.
[140] In April 2008, the case of Nujood Ali, a 10-year-old girl who successfully obtained a divorce, sparked headlines around the world, and prompted calls to raise the legal age for marriage to 18.