Editing Age of consent (section)

===21st century===
In the 21st century, concerns about [[child sex tourism]] and [[commercial sexual exploitation]] of children gained prominence, resulting in legislative changes in multiple jurisdictions, as well as the adoption of international laws.

The [[Council of Europe]] [[Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse]] ([[Lanzarote]], 25 October 2007), and the [[European Union]]'s ''Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council'' of 13 December 2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:335:0001:0014:EN:PDF|title=DIRECTIVE 2011/92/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 13 December 2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, and replacing Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA|publisher=Official Journal of the European Union|date=13 December 2011|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref> were adopted.

The [[Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography]] came into force in 2002.

The [[Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children]], which came into force in 2003, prohibits commercial sexual exploitation of children.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/ProtocolTraffickingInPersons.aspx|title=Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime|publisher=[[OHCHR]]|date=15 November 2000|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref>

The [[Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings]] (which came into force in 2008) also deals with commercial sexual exploitation of children.

Several Western countries have raised their ages of consent in recent decades. These include [[Ages of consent in Canada|Canada]] (in 2008—from 14 to 16); and in Europe, [[Ages of consent in Europe#Iceland|Iceland]] (in 2007—from 14 to 15), [[Ages of consent in Europe#Lithuania|Lithuania]] (in 2010—from 14 to 16), [[Ages of consent in Europe#Croatia|Croatia]] (in 2013—from 14 to 15), [[Ages of consent in Europe#Spain|Spain]] (in 2015—from 13 to 16), [[Ages of consent in Europe#Romania|Romania]] (in 2020 from 15 to 16) and [[Ages of consent in Europe#Estonia|Estonia]] (in 2022—from 14 to 16).

The [[International Criminal Court]] Statute does not provide a specific age of consent in its rape/sexual violence statute, but makes reference to sexual acts committed against persons "''incapable of giving genuine consent''"; and the explicative footnote states, "It is understood that a person may be incapable of giving genuine consent if affected by natural, induced or ''age-related incapacity''." (see note 51)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/rdonlyres/336923D8-A6AD-40EC-AD7B-45BF9DE73D56/0/ElementsOfCrimesEng.pdf|title=Elements of Crimes|publisher=[[International Criminal Court]]|date=2011|access-date=25 August 2015|archive-date=23 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140923132736/http://www.icc-cpi.int/nr/rdonlyres/336923d8-a6ad-40ec-ad7b-45bf9de73d56/0/elementsofcrimeseng.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>