The age of consent is never a single number
Almost every system uses several thresholds. A general age marks when a person can consent at all. A higher age applies where the other person holds authority — teacher, coach, carer, parent — or where money or goods are involved. And a close-in-age exception takes young people out of the offence when the gap between them is small. Anyone who knows only the first number does not know the law.
From resistance to consent
Historically, many codes required force or threats and asked whether the complainant had fought back. Recent reform has shifted the test: what matters is whether there was consent — freely given, current and revocable. Some countries require positive, communicated agreement; others focus on the absence of agreement; others again list coercive circumstances. The practical result converges: silence, freezing and sleep are not consent.
What holds everywhere
Consent to one act is not consent to another, and past consent does not extend to a later occasion. It can be withdrawn at any point. A marriage or relationship does not supply it — marital rape is now expressly criminal in most systems. And removing a condom without the other person's knowledge is increasingly treated as a distinct violation of consent in its own right.
Limitation and when to report
For offences against children, time limits in many countries start only at adulthood, and several have abolished limitation altogether for the most serious offences. Reporting years later is therefore possible far more often than people assume. The evidence, however, is always better the earlier medical findings are recorded and messages preserved.
The first hours
If you are unsure whether you want to report: have the examination anyway. In most places evidence can be collected and stored without an immediate decision to proceed. Try not to wash beforehand, keep clothing in a paper bag rather than plastic, and save messages before any account is deleted.
The law country by country
The legal framework, the procedure, the time limits and the costs differ from one country to another. Each country below has a detailed page: governing texts, key facts, the actual procedure, costs, where to go and the traps to avoid.
Select a country to open its detailed page.
