Bill forbids sex under the age of 16

Deputy Knesset Speaker Shama says state must intervene due to physiological, mental risks involved in sex between under-age teens

Reuters | Published: 05.26.10, 09:27

A new bill initiated by Deputy Knesset Speaker Carmel Shama (Likud) aims to raise the age under which sexual relations are prohibited from 14 to 16, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday.

"The younger people are when they begin to engage in sexual relations, the higher the risk of physiological and mental damage," the MK wrote in the explanation to the bill.

It should be noted that Shama's model has been put into practice in many countries, including the US, Britain, Canada, Norway, Holland and Finland. However, in several other countries, such as Spain, Hungary, Moldova, Croatia, Chile and Albania, the age under which intercourse is forbidden is still 14.

The bill does not determine the punishment for those who will have sex before reaching the legal age, but says that in any case it will be proportional to the crime and determined only after consultations with welfare services.

The bill also includes a clause according to which teens between the ages of 16 and 17 will be forbidden from having sex with people who are 10 or more years older than they are.

According to figures published by the World Health Organization in 2009, a third of male Israeli teens aged 14-16 have had sex, as have 23% of the females.

Shama said the so-called "Celibacy Law" is important to him not only as a lawmaker, but as a parent as well. "My eldest son turned 14 last week. I am terrified by the thought that he and his friends will have sex at this age, and with the consent of the State of Israel's book of laws.

"There intent here is not to punish or enter the bedrooms of Israel's teenagers, but to convey a message that this is prohibited and dangerous. In a world of libertarian drinking and partying norms, in which people meet online, there is room for the state's intervention," he said.