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"The individual can ...": Objectifying consent;
Thymos;
4(2), 103-112,
Oct 01 2010
The issue of age of consent for sexual activities has been bedevilled by the absence of any objective standards or criteria for what is meant by or involved in 'consent'. Despite this absence-or because of it-the social and political response has been to reach for blanket prohibitions on sexual activity by persons under particular ages-ages which have settled in the mid- to late teens.
At the same time, the percentages of persons aged 15 and under who are sexually active in our societies indicate that young people are regularly consenting to sexual activities. Consent to sexual activity has also been a concern in relation to the lives of the cognitively or mentally impaired.
In an attempt to clarify issues surrounding consent there, a significant proposal in regard to objectifying standards for consent was reported by Carrie Hill Kennedy, in her article "Assessing Competency to Consent to Sexual Activity in the Cognitively Impaired Population" (Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology 1:3, 1999), where she developed a two-part scale for ability to consent, including twelve criteria involving knowledge and five criteria involving personal assertiveness and safety. Kennedy herself has maintained that there is no relevance for her research as applied to minors: adults have sexual rights, minors do not.
However, it would seem clear that there is a certain relevance-if not in the use of a similar scale for assessing the competence of a particular minor to consent, then in generally comparing the age at which children attain the developmental level comparable with that implied by Kennedy's five Safety standards, and using that information to critique the present, obviously unrealistic ages of consent. In relation to the Knowledge scale, the importance of sexual education becomes still clearer.
The issue of age of consent for sexual activities has been bedevilled by the absence of any objective standards or criteria for what is meant by or involved in 'consent'. Despite this absence-or because of it-the social and political response has been to reach for blanket prohibitions on sexual activity by persons under particular ages-ages which have settled in the mid- to late teens.
At the same time, the percentages of persons aged 15 and under who are sexually active in our societies indicate that young people are regularly consenting to sexual activities. Consent to sexual activity has also been a concern in relation to the lives of the cognitively or mentally impaired.
In an attempt to clarify issues surrounding consent there, a significant proposal in regard to objectifying standards for consent was reported by Carrie Hill Kennedy, in her article "Assessing Competency to Consent to Sexual Activity in the Cognitively Impaired Population" (Journal of Forensic Neuropsychology 1:3, 1999), where she developed a two-part scale for ability to consent, including twelve criteria involving knowledge and five criteria involving personal assertiveness and safety. Kennedy herself has maintained that there is no relevance for her research as applied to minors: adults have sexual rights, minors do not.
However, it would seem clear that there is a certain relevance-if not in the use of a similar scale for assessing the competence of a particular minor to consent, then in generally comparing the age at which children attain the developmental level comparable with that implied by Kennedy's five Safety standards, and using that information to critique the present, obviously unrealistic ages of consent. In relation to the Knowledge scale, the importance of sexual education becomes still clearer.