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The age of consent should not be confused with the age of majority or age of criminal responsibility, and in some jurisdictions, the marriageable age differs from the age of consent.
The age of consent varies widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, though most jurisdictions in the world today have an age of consent between 14 to 18 years, but ages as young as 12 and as old as 21 also occur, with some countries in the Middle East holding female ages of consent in the single-digit range.
Social and legal attitudes towards the appropriate age of consent have drifted upwards in modern times; while ages from ten through to thirteen were typically acceptable in the mid 19th century, fifteen through eighteen had become the norm in many countries by the end of the 20th century. Calls for the age of consent for heterosexual sex to be lowered are largely unheard of outside of US, with an age of 17 or 18.
Sexual relations with a person under the age of consent is in general a criminal offence, with punishments ranging from token fines to life imprisonment. In the United States this offence is frequently called statutory rape, though outside the United States other names are more commonly used (e.g. "carnal knowledge of a person under sixteen years").
Increasingly the age of consent laws of a state apply not only to acts committed on its own territory, but also acts committed by its nationals and/or inhabitants on foreign territory:
(See also Universal jurisdiction; the effective age of consent may be the highest of those corresponding to the list in Universal jurisdiction#Applicable jurisdictions.)
Such provisions have been frequently adopted to help reduce the incidence of child sex tourism.
The enforcement practices of age of consent laws tend to vary depending on the social sensibilities of the particular culture. Often enforcement is not exercised to the letter of the law, with legal action being taken only when a sufficiently socially-unacceptable age gap exists between the two individuals, or if the perpetrator is in a position of authority over the minor (e.g. a teacher, priest or doctor). The sex of each participant also influences perceptions of an individual's guilt and therefore enforcement. Not only is enforcement more likely in the case of a larger age gap, but in the US at least, laws are becoming more explicit about prohibiting sex between youngsters and authority figures, even when sex would otherwise be legal.
That the relationship was consensual is not in general a defence to having sexual relations with a person under the age of consent; however, there are some defences: common examples include a limited mistake of age defence, and a defence of similarity of age. A mistake of age defence is that the accused mistakenly believed the victim was not under the age of consent; however, where such a defence is provided, it is normally limited to apply only when the victim is above a certain age. Such a defence becomes stronger if the accused can show due diligenceDue diligence is the effort a party makes to avoid harm to another party. Quite often a party in a contract may be obligated to provide due diligence. In finance, for example, the term can refer to the activities of pension or investment fund managers in in determining the age of the victim.
A defence of similarity of age is that the difference in age between the accused and the victim was fewer than a certain number of years. Another defence is often marriage, for those jurisdictions where the marriageable age is less than the age of consent.
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