Spain raises age of consent for marriage and sex to 16 - Polidicks

[QUOTE]Spain has raised the minimum age for marriage and sexual relations to 16 from 14 and 13 respectively, bringing the country into line with much of Europe after protests from child protection groups. Spanish law until now had allowed 14-year-olds to marry with permission from a judge. The government said two years ago it would change the law with the aim of protecting children from forced marriage and exploitation, and the legislation came into effect on Thursday.[/QUOTE] Read more: [url]https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/spain-raises-age-of-consent-for-marriage-and-sex-to-16-1.2295109[/url]

Sounds reasonable enough, 14 is too low, 16 is to me the ideal age.

-Snip- Woops that's what I get for reading improperly!

[QUOTE=Pascall;48473041]but even that is still underdeveloped, especially for women. [/QUOTE] Haha what?

[QUOTE=Pascall;48473041]It's a start. Sixteen is still very very young regardless of country of origin. Eighteen is probably closer, but even that is still underdeveloped, especially for women. But anyway. Sixteen is much better than thirteen and fourteen. Kind of hoping that at some point they turn it up again because sixteen year olds are still very easily abused and exploited by these kinds of relationships.[/QUOTE] at 16 i think you're old enough to make an informed decision about sex and be aware of the possible consequences of having sex.

[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;48473097]at 16 i think you're old enough to make an informed decision about sex and be aware of the possible consequences of having sex.[/QUOTE] school isn't even finished at that age, so no

[QUOTE=Pascall;48473041]It's a start. Sixteen is still very very young regardless of country of origin. Eighteen is probably closer, but even that is still underdeveloped, especially for women. But anyway. Sixteen is much better than thirteen and fourteen. Kind of hoping that at some point they turn it up again because sixteen year olds are still very easily abused and exploited by these kinds of relationships.[/QUOTE] Eighteen year olds are exploited by sexual relationships too so might as well raise it to 21 by that logic.

[QUOTE=Pascall;48473041]Eighteen is probably closer, but even that is still underdeveloped, especially for women.[/QUOTE] :idiotcull:

[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;48473097]at 16 i think you're old enough to make an informed decision about sex and be aware of the possible consequences of having sex.[/QUOTE] then you're basically just wrong. it's not at all common for someone's judgement and critical thinking abilities to be fully developed at that age.

[QUOTE=goldenbuttocks;48473128]school isn't even finished at that age, so no[/QUOTE] What does consent have to do with school? Teenagers are going to sleep with their peers and many will sleep with adults. Why criminalize something under statutory rape laws when they're able and willing to consent?

[QUOTE=goldenbuttocks;48473128]school isn't even finished at that age, so no[/QUOTE] With a proper sex education system in place, 16 is more than acceptable as the age of consent. Some countries don't stop mandatory school until 18 anyway, which is far too late for some horny teens who could get their lives ruined by hormones and the law.

[QUOTE=Velocet;48473152]What does consent have to do with school? Teenagers are going to sleep with their peers and many will sleep with adults. Why criminalize something under statutory rape laws when they're able and willing to consent?[/QUOTE] it has to do with you know, school teaching teenagers reasoning and judgement skills. if they haven't had enough of that, then maybe they shouldn't partake in something as risky as sex.

It's strange that I can unironically say that ageism is a real problem that exists today. Quit demeaning teenagers, seriously people, we're people, just like all the other people that are people on this planet full of people.

If 2 16 year olds want to fuck, so the fuck what? As long as they aren't spreading disease or humans.

[QUOTE=Bruhmis;48473142]then you're basically just wrong. it's not at all common for someone's judgement and critical thinking abilities to be fully developed at that age.[/QUOTE] Why does critical thinking have to come into the equation of sex? Generally the standard is "do what you think is right",and why deny teens what feels right in the moment? Pregnancy? STDs? That seems like more of an argument for better sexual education. We're not robots and human interaction doesn't work that way. If we continue on this path, we're going to end up signing legal documents before sexual activity.

[QUOTE=goldenbuttocks;48473164]it has to do with you know, school teaching teenagers reasoning and judgement skills. if they haven't had enough of that, then maybe they shouldn't partake in something as risky as sex.[/QUOTE] Why does school come into critical thinking and reasoning though? Have you been to school recently? People learn critical thinking and reasoning while in education, but the education system sure as hell doesn't intend for it to be that way. If anything at all to a school critical thinking and reasoning are just buzzwords to make them look good.

[QUOTE=Velocet;48473179]Why does critical thinking have to come into the equation of sex? Generally the standard is "do what you think is right",and why deny teens what feels right in the moment?[/QUOTE] you could literally say this about anything.

[QUOTE=goldenbuttocks;48473164]it has to do with you know, school teaching teenagers reasoning and judgement skills. if they haven't had enough of that, then maybe they shouldn't partake in something as risky as sex.[/QUOTE] You're talking about Spain, a country that has excellent sex education and is not restricted by puritanical nonsense like the US does. Look at Spain's teen pregnancy rate. [url]http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Health/Teenage-pregnancy[/url] 11,000 versus our nearly 500,000

[QUOTE=Velocet;48473131]Eighteen year olds are exploited by sexual relationships too so might as well raise it to 21 by that logic.[/QUOTE] Fuck, man, I've known 40 year olds that have been in abusive or exploitive relationships. There's no real age where you just suddenly know how to make decisions about sexual relationships.

[QUOTE=goldenbuttocks;48473128]school isn't even finished at that age, so no[/QUOTE] people at the age of 13-15 are naive, but they arnt braindead. Most of them know what sex is and how to handle it.

[QUOTE=Velocet;48473197]You're talking about Spain, a country that has excellent sex education and is not restricted by puritanical nonsense like the US does. Look at Spain's teen pregnancy rate. [url]http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Health/Teenage-pregnancy[/url][/QUOTE] you have a point there. i guess im just used to the our terrible sex education.

[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;48473097]at 16 i think you're old enough to make an informed decision about sex and be aware of the possible consequences of having sex.[/QUOTE] Most teens act dumb as shit about sex even up to 20, 16 year olds aren't gonna be careful about it.

The age of consent in Europe is used in a completely different context compared to the US and oftentimes ignored. Wow a 16 year old had sex with an 19 year old, whatever. In fact, it was probably safer than two 16 year olds going at it in the first place. The US is really fucking weird to most Europeans in it's handling of sex ed and sex in general.

[QUOTE=~Kiwi~v2;48473215]but you should also note that america is much larger then spain and whilst i dont know what your sex ed is like id say that at least 50% of that 500k is due to size of the country+population[/QUOTE] Sort it by capita then. It's still ranked number 19 while the US is number one. Sex education is and should be the immediate response to combat teenage pregnancies, which is really the only legitimate argument against teenagers having sex. I grew up in the United States and the amount of my partners that were sexually active but believed pulling out was enough was insane, and these were smart girls saying "just risk it".

[QUOTE=Velocet;48473131]Eighteen year olds are exploited by sexual relationships too so might as well raise it to 21 by that logic.[/QUOTE] But 21 year olds are also exploited by relationships, may as well raise it to 40 when menopause sets in so we're not getting any unwanted pregnancies. :downs: Teach them safe sex in school and it'll be fine. Since the introduction of sex ed in schools teen pregnancy rates have dropped massively, etc..

[QUOTE=Velocet;48473179]Why does critical thinking have to come into the equation of sex?[/QUOTE] because at 16 it's extremely easy for someone 25+ to manipulate them and do things with them that they'll be ashamed of and regret later in life. even with 18 being the age of consent it's still very common for old men to use their money and seniority to manipulate teens into having sex with them. plenty of people regret those decisions later in life. most people cringe when they think back on what they were like at 16, it's just too young. Obviously the 'Romeo & Juliette' exceptions are a sensible way to deal with relationships at that age but it's problematic when a 45 year old man is legally allowed to marry and have sex with a 16 year old.

[QUOTE=Pascall;48473041]It's a start. Sixteen is still very very young regardless of country of origin. Eighteen is probably closer, but even that is still underdeveloped, especially for women.[/QUOTE] Here we go again with the "america does this therefore it is the right thing to do"

it used to be 13 didn't we raise this shit a few years ago? [editline]16th August 2015[/editline] Also spain's sex ED is pretty good. [editline]16th August 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=freaka;48473202]people at the age of 13-15 are naive, but they arnt braindead. Most of them know what sex is and how to handle it.[/QUOTE] Shit when I was 11 most of the girls in my class understood properly why they don't want to get pregnant when they start to have sex, and that's all thanks to our good sex ED. Spain unlike many other countries does not have the issue of uninformed teenagers, you have MANDATORY sex education curriculum that covers the basics of pregnancy and shit at around 11-12 years and then you cover the specifics at high school

[QUOTE=draugur;48473290]But 21 year olds are also exploited by relationships, may as well raise it to 40 when menopause sets in so we're not getting any unwanted pregnancies. :downs: [/QUOTE] I slept with a 40 year old when I was 18 and I'm pretty sure we were exploiting each other for different things. Let's be honest, there aren't many sexual relationships that aren't exploiting each other when it comes to lifestyle. Friends with benefits/one night stands seem to be the ones that are the most straight forward.

[QUOTE=Pascall;48473041]It's a start. Sixteen is still very very young regardless of country of origin. Eighteen is probably closer, but even that is still underdeveloped, especially for women. But anyway. Sixteen is much better than thirteen and fourteen. Kind of hoping that at some point they turn it up again because sixteen year olds are still very easily abused and exploited by these kinds of relationships.[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://facepunch.com/fp/flags/us.png[/IMG] 16 is the youngest it should be but it shouldn't be older