UN Agencies’ Report Subverts Age of Consent, Proclaims Sex with Minors ‘May Be Consensual

A Switzerland-based group has issued a report urging nations to end the criminalization of various acts – the most notable being sex with a minor who supposedly consents to the activity.

The report was created by the International Committee of Jurists (ICJ), alongside the United Nations group UNAIDS and the U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, according to a news release from UNAIDS.

The report urged an end to criminal laws that prohibit acts that the groups deem human rights.

The report listed 8 such “Principles” and urged the removal of laws criminalizing the following:

1. Contraception and acts harmful to unborn children, such as alcohol and drug use
2. Obtaining, assisting in, or providing an abortion
3. Sexual conduct with a consenting minor and same-sex relations
4. Prostitution or “sex work”
5. Obtaining, assisting in, or providing gender-affirming care
6. Non-disclosure of HIV status resulting in another’s exposure to HIV
7. Drug use, possession, purchase, or cultivation for personal use
8. Begging, sleeping, cooking, washing, urinating, or defecating in public

Attempts to criminalize the acts amount to “human rights violations,” according to the report.

The report also suggested that these criminal laws are faulty because they rely on claims of “cultural, traditional or community values or religious beliefs, or stated threats to the rights and reputation of others, national security, public order, public morals or public health.”

Such claims are “illegitimate,” the report argues.

Of the eight principles, the most alarming demand was in calling for the legalization of sexual acts involving consenting persons under the minimum age of consent.

The idea behind contemporary age-of-consent laws is that young people are not legally competent to making a responsible decision about whether to engage in sexual activity, particularly with an older partner. Currently, the age of consent to sex in the U.S. is generally between 16 and 18 years, depending on the state.

But according to the report, any sexual conduct involving “persons below the domestically prescribed minimum age of consent” may actually “be consensual in fact,” even if the law says it’s not.

“In this context, the enforcement of criminal law should reflect the rights and capacity of persons under 18 years of age to make decisions about engaging in consensual sexual conduct and their right to be heard in matters concerning them,” the report states.

Laws should instead reflect the “evolving capacities and progressive autonomy” of minors to participate in sexual acts, it claims.

Regarding sex, the report went on to urge the decriminalization of “sex work” and limit laws regarding HIV transmission.

The report argued against criminal laws that punish prostitutes who perform sexual services, “whether in a public or private place,” as well as any third party who may benefit in any way from such services.

In cases of HIV exposure from someone HIV-positive, the report suggested that criminal law “should be limited” to cases where those involved knew they had HIV and intentionally transmitted it to another person.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, is a disease that attacks the immune system. Once contracted, it cannot be cured. Without treatment, it can lead to AIDS, which is a severe form of HIV that can be fatal.

Overall, most of the principles proposed by the organization have already been implemented throughout states and cities across the U.S.

The organizations urged those in authority to take note of their proposed principles, which they said “should be of immediate relevance to certain critical audiences.”

This audience included politicians, administration officials, prosecutors, judges, law enforcement officials, policymakers, members of oversight committees, and academic institutions, among others listed.