Laws regarding child sexual abuse

Child sexual abuse is nowadays outlawed in almost all countries, generally with severe criminal penalties, including in some jurisdictions, life imprisonment or capital punishment. An adult's sexual intercourse with a minor below the legal age of consent is defined as statutory rape, based on the principle that an abusing adult is a criminal deviant who takes advantage of a minor, who is not capable of consent, and that any apparent consent by a minor could not be considered legal consent.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is an international treaty that legally obliges states to protect children's rights. Articles 34 and 35 of the CRC require states to protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. This includes outlawing the coercion of a child to perform sexual activity, the prostitution of children, and the exploitation of children in creating pornography. States are also required to prevent the abduction, sale, or trafficking of children. As of November 2008, 193 countries are bound by the CRC, including every member of the United Nations except the United States and Somalia.

In the United States
Child sexual abuse has been recognized specifically as a type of child maltreatment in U.S. federal law since the initial Congressional hearings on child abuse in 1973. Child sexual abuse is illegal in every state, as well as under federal law. Among the states, the specifics of child sexual abuse laws vary, but certain features of these laws are common to all states.

In South Africa
In 1995, South Africa ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and committed to a range of obligations aimed at establishing and protecting the rights of children. The Child Care Act, (74 of 1983) and the Child Care Amendment Act, (86 of 1991; 13 of 1999) make sexual abuse of children a criminal offense.

In the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom rewrote its criminal code in the Sexual Offences Act of 2003. This Act includes definitions and penalties for child sexual abuse offences, and (so far as relating to offences) applies to England and Wales and Northern Ireland. The Scottish Law Commission published its review of rape and sexual offences in December 2007, which includes a similar consolidation and codification of child sexual abuse offences in Scotland.

In Zambia
A recent June 30, 2008 landmark decision by judge, Philip Musonda, of the Zambian High Court gave a minor girl-student $45million Zambian Kwacha in awards after she brought her teacher to court for statutory rape. This is the first case of its kind for a minor to win against a person of authority in the nation of Zambia.

Countries with Islamic law
Laws regarding sexual relations and marriage vary among nations with Islamic influenced systems of law. By religious doctrine, sex outside of marriage ("zina") is strictly forbidden regardless of any person's age. Therefore, many relevant laws pertain specifically to the age at which a woman may marry.

The marriageable age according to Islamic texts varies in interpretation by different scholars and jurists. Most hold that the girl must be post-pubertal, some jurists even clarifying this as the age of 15.

As a result of these varied interpretations, enumerated laws in such nations likewise vary a great deal. In Bangladesh and Malaysia, the legal age is 18. In Pakistan, it is 16.

Proper enforcement can often be a more pressing issue. In Yemen, the law does not define child abuse and Saudi Arabia does not keep any national statistics on the phenomenon. According to the US Department of State, in Iran, such "abuse was largely regarded as a private, family matter". .