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UN Commission Proposes Decriminalizing Sex with Minors
By David W. Virtue, DD
www.virtueonline.org
July 27, 2023
A report of the so-called UN International Commission of Jurists referred to as the March 8 Principles, includes a section decriminalizing sex with minors.
The most odious of the March 8 Principles is Principle 16, which states that minor children should be deemed capable of consent to sexual relations as a defense to any criminal prosecution of the adult [P. 22; emphasis supplied]. Here is how it reads:
Moreover, sexual conduct involving persons below the domestically prescribed minimum age of consent to sex may be consensual in fact, if not in law. 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. Pursuant to their evolving capacities and progressive autonomy, persons under 18 years of age should participate in decisions affecting them, with due regard to their age, maturity and best interests, and with specific attention to non-discrimination guarantees.
What this means is that consensual sexual conduct, irrespective of the type of sexual activity, the sex/ gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression of the people involved or their marital status, may not be criminalized in any circumstances. Consensual same sex, as well as consensual different sexual relations, or consensual sexual relations with or between trans, non-binary and other gender- diverse people, or outside marriage -- whether pre-marital or extramarital -- may, therefore, never be criminalized.
With respect to the enforcement of criminal law, any prescribed minimum age of consent to sex must be applied in a non-discriminatory manner. Enforcement may not be linked to the sex/gender of participants or age of consent to marriage.
The principles are the outcome of a 2018 workshop organized by the joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) along with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to discuss the role of jurists in addressing the harmful human rights impact of criminal laws. The meeting resulted in a call for a set of jurists' principles to assist the courts, legislatures, advocates and prosecutors to address the detrimental human rights impact of such laws.
The principles, developed over five years, are based on feedback and reviews from a range of experts and stakeholders. They were finalized in 2022. Initially, the principles focused on the impact of criminal laws proscribing sexual and reproductive health and rights, consensual sexual activity, gender identity, gender expression, HIV non-disclosure, exposure and transmission, drug use and the possession of drugs for personal use. Later, based on the inputs of civil society and other stakeholders, criminalization linked to homelessness and poverty were also included.
To no one's surprise this is being pushed by the LGBTQ+ crowd as a response to the current popularity of the film "Sound of Freedom" that focuses on child sex trafficking. But it's not just the LGBTQ+ crowd who are pushing this. There is a large cohort of Muslim countries who want to legalize the marriage of men to young girls, and to legalize men sodomizing small boys.
"Sound of Freedom" is based on the real story of Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Department for Homeland Security agent who conducts sting operations to rescue a young brother and sister from human trafficking in Colombia.
A source told VOL that this is the content roadmap for primary and secondary school teachers on what I call child sexuality grooming. I believe that this is laying the groundwork for stopping prosecutions for pedophilia.
You can read it all here: https://unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2023/march/20230308_new-legal-principles-decriminalization
