In April 2023, excerpts from a UN report appeared in the media, which allegedly suggested that adults should not be punished for sex with minors. We decided to check if this is actually true.
On social networks, the report of lawyers under the auspices of the UN was often called the “legalization of pedophilia.” This formulation was found in Telegram, Livejournal And "Zen", as well as in RIA FAN. "News” wrote more carefully - about “decriminalization of sexual activity of all types.” Most media outlets and blogs quote from the report: in particular, that “consensual sexual behavior, regardless of the type of sexual activity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status cannot be criminalized.” In another quoted passage it says, that “enforcement should not be related to the sex/gender of the participants or the age of consent to marriage.”
Widely discussed report in the media and social networks came out March 8, 2023, International Women's Day. A non-governmental organization worked on it International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) together with UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS) and Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The document is called “March 8 Principles”; the subtitle states that we are talking about a human rights-based approach to a number of sensitive issues: sexual relations, drug use, HIV infection, abortion.
This report is advisory in nature and draws attention to existing shortcomings in law enforcement. In the preface to the main text set out basic problems: first of all, stigmatization of certain groups and imbalance in criminal law on a number of issues.
The 16th paragraph of the “March 8 Principles” caused the greatest indignation. It's called "Consensual Sexual Behavior." This section contains the following phrase: “Any established minimum age of consent for sex must be applied in a non-discriminatory manner. Enforcement should not be related to the sex/gender of the participants [of sexual intercourse] or the age of consent to marriage.” This was interpreted in the media and blogs as legalizing pedophilia and eliminating the minimum age of consent for sex.
On April 20, the International Commission of Jurists published special statement, which explained the position of the organization. The release states: “The March 8 Principles do not call for the decriminalization of sex with children, nor for the removal of any country's minimum age of consent for sex. ISJ emphasizes that states have a clear obligation under international law to protect children from all forms of abuse, such as child sexual abuse, including by criminalizing such conduct.”
The wording on the minimum age of consent for sex, which is not very clear to a wide range of readers, had to be explained by lawyers who did not participate in the work on the report. Agency Associated Press reached out to New York University professor Erin Murphy for comment. She explained that we are talking about the contradiction that exists in a number of countries between two legislative norms: the minimum age of consent for sex and the minimum age of marriage. "The report says if you set a minimum age of consent, you shouldn't allow people to avoid it by getting married," says Erin Murphy. She also added that some US states do not have a minimum age for marriage, which could serve as a legal loophole in age of consent laws.
Thus, the report it says something completely different: extramarital relations are often considered obviously more criminal than the same sex with minors, but in marriage. In addition, the same document states that the minimum age for marriage should not depend on gender. In many countries this age different for boys and girls, for the latter it is often lower. In Russia, the minimum age for marriage varies depending on the region. IN Moscow region, for example, “under special circumstances” you can marry from the age of 14, while sexual relations with a person under 16 years of age, are punished to the fullest extent of the law. Lawyers spoke about such cases in the report.
As a result, we can conclude that the report, made under the auspices of the UN, is not aimed at legalizing pedophilia, but at putting in order law enforcement practice, which, according to lawyers, should comply with the principles of protecting human rights and the spirit of the law.
Cover photo: UN
Not true
Read on the topic:
- Is it true that WHO excluded the diagnosis of pedophilia from the new edition of the ICD?
- Is it true that in Spain the minister proposed legalizing pedophilia?
- Is it true that the ICC prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Putin in exchange for the release of his pedophile brother?
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