In previous articles, we saw that under the Sexual Offences Act (“the SoA”), the age of consent is 16, and that any sexual activity, including sexual intercourse, with a child under the age of 16 is illegal, regardless of whether that child agreed to the sexual activity (see sections 10 and 11 of the SoA). We also saw that there are exceptions to these rules where the child under 16 is between the ages of 12 to under 16 years.
Importantly, these sections pertain to situations where the accused and the alleged victim are not related. The SoA treats sexual activity between an accused and a child family member differently. Section 16 of the SoA provides that it is an offence to engage in sexual activity with a child relative (that is, any relative under 18): see section 16 (1) of the SoA.