Age of Consent at 14 Makes Canada Favoured Sex Tourism

OTTAWA, December 20, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A newly released report says that the age of consent for vaginal sex in Canada – currently set at 14 – has made this country a favorite destination for child-sex “tourism”. The Global Monitoring Report on the Status of Action against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, says that Canada’s age of consent has made Canada a haven for pedophiles.

The report was issued by the Bangkok-based organization, End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes, or ECPAT International. It gives Canada 17 recommendations, including raising the age of consent from 14 to 16.

EPCAT International monitors and studies the problem of child sexual exploitation around the world. The Global Monitoring Report says that legal action is not enough and that a culture of sexual exploitation of children has arisen around the world in recent years, particularly in media imagery and the internet. This, the group says, coincides with trends of children being frequently victimized by adults for commercial sex, “under the wrongful concept of their ability to consent to exploitation.”

The report recommends that “all children up to the age of 18 …be afforded legal protection from commercial sexual exploitation.”

A bill to raise the age of consent, one of the first to be put forward by Canada’s Conservative government, passed second reading in the House of Commons in October.

Federal Justice Minister Vic Toews told the CBC that Americans are being prosecuted under US laws for using Canada as a sex-tourism destination. “It's ironic in Canada we can't prosecute them, and yet Americans coming here and taking advantage of our children, when they go back, can face criminal prosecutions and lengthy imprisonment." Toews told the CBC.

The CBC report quotes Toronto police constable, Paul Krawczyk, who said, “I've been in pedophile chat rooms that discuss Canada having such a low age of consent that they tell other pedophiles to travel to Canada because of that. Sixty-year-olds engaging in sexual activities with 14 or 15-year-olds is not appropriate.”

The federal government’s proposal to raise the age of consent in Canada from 14 to 16 was vocally opposed by homosexual advocacy groups who accused the government of attacking the sexual freedoms of young people.

As a longtime proponent of raising the age of consent, Toews responded in June when the government tabled their bill, “Adults who sexually prey upon young people are the targets of these reforms, not consenting teenagers.”

The proposed legislation includes a close-in-age clause that means young people 14 or 15 can have sexual relations with someone “less than five years older.”

The sides are clearly lined up in the war over child-protection and the age of consent. After the Conservatives tabled the bill, the Coalition For Lesbian And Gay Rights In Ontario and the Sex Laws Committee said raising the age would discriminate against the sexual choices of gay youth.

Planned Parenthood Ottawa and the Canadian AIDS Society also criticized the bill saying it would interfere with efforts to educate youth about pregnancy, disease prevention and sexual rights.

This February, the homosexual activist group EGALE (Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere), asked the government to lower the age of consent for anal sex to 16 from its current 18, saying that the difference only served to “stigmatize gay men.”

Following this, in November, a Liberal Party policy resolution, attributed to the British Columbia branch of the Party, called for the lowering of the age of consent for anal sex.

Gay Activists Ask Canada to Lower Age of Consent for Anal Sex, National Post Agrees http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/feb/06021403.html

International Group Urges Canada to Raise Age of Consent, Urges Against Legalizing Prostitution http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/mar/05031406.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Brings to mind that Dateline expose of men picking up underage girls
from chatroom emails.

Some enterprising Canadian liberal that watched those DatelineNBC
episodes might get the idea to lower that age just one more year to
age 13 in order to create a huge economic boom in Canada.

Enough of those guys will drive a hundred miles or more hoping to
meet a 13-year old...they'd probably be happy to drive a couple hours
to the airport and fly to Canada for a legal pedophile sex-holiday.

Of course, they might be in for a shock when they get back to the
USA; I think there's maybe federal law that nails guys who
go off to countries like Thailand for pedophile adventures.

report says that the age of consent for vaginal sex in Canada – currently set at 14

I have raised six children, the last one being a 15 year old boy.

He is a good looking kid who has girls call him all the time, at all hours of the night, knocking on our door, basically bugging the heck out of him.

He has girls literally throw themselves at him.

I have to monitor his AIM because the girls are out of control. More than once I have called a girls parents and sent them the text of their daughters AIM. Some of it is highly sexualized.

My point is, at least in todays world, almost all the girls my kid meets are one step away from being sluts.

Giving them the approval of consent at 14 is a very bad idea.

"Hey, dad, I'm legal, don't bug me about having sex"

"I know honey, but you are also pregnant"

Stephen Harper's government is making splendid progress.

One aspect of making progress is just getting the word out about how badly the old policies have failed, and the harm they are currently causing. From this article, it sounds like they're doing pretty well at that.

I just don't get how something like having sex with someone legally in another country is prosecutable here. How about if I bought and fired a machine gun in Switzerland and then came back to New York (without the gun, of course)? Can they prosecute me? I mean I know the analogy is somewhat weak, but do you see my point? Where do we draw the line here?

On another note, while I think the sexual exploitation of a child is horrendous, how in the world is it legal for the US government to prosecute me for an act committed off its soil? I understand that if I committed treason, they should be able to prosecute me if I come to the US (although since no media or political figures who have committed treason have been prosecuted, I'm not even remotely worried about that). I just don't get how something like having sex with someone legally in another country is prosecutable here. How about if I bought and fired a machine gun in Switzerland and then came back to New York (without the gun, of course)? Can they prosecute me? I mean I know the analogy is somewhat weak, but do you see my point? Where do we draw the line here?

Oh I absolutely see your point and I agree with you on the basis of the United States Government has NO jurisdiction over individuals who are NOT on U.S. soil.

But having said that, the United States Government is unique in that they tax their citizens on income which is NOT earned within the United States, or from a U.S. employer. That means that Americans in that situation (living and working overseas) get taxed TWICE, once by the country they are resident in, and then again by the Infernal Revenue Service.

It is quite the quandry, to put it mildly.

There are some who believe that there is a difference between boys and girls. It has been said that boys are the sexual aggressors of the species, and that it is not traumatic for a 14 year old boy to have sex with an older female. Many believe that this isn't the case with 14 year old girls, and older men. I guess you're not one of those.

I believe that the law is written to serve a purpose, and that is to protect children. If it is deemed that a fourteen year old is a child then that should apply to either gender. If society disagrees then the law needs to be changed. But I am sure you can see how that could cause problems, are they equal adults at 18, or should there be seperate laws until the girls reach age 21 and boys 18? What about driving, 16 years for boys, and 18 for girls?

I have been told for years that girls reach mental maturity well befor boys, so should we actually have an inverse set of laws? Where girls are allowed to vote at say 16, but not allowed to consent until 18. While boys are allowed to consent at 14, but be prohibited from voting until 18 or 21?

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