AgeOfConsent
Age of Consent in France
What is the France Age of Consent?
The Age of Consent in France is 15 years old. The age of consent is the minimum age at which an individual is considered legally old enough to consent to participation in sexual activity. Individuals aged 14 or younger in France are not legally able to consent to sexual activity, and such activity may result in prosecution for statutory rape or the equivalent local law.
France statutory rape law is violated when an individual has consensual sexual intercourse with a person under age 15. The age of consent rises to age 18 when the older party is an ascedant or a person having legal or factual authority over the victim, or when the offender is abusing the authority conferred by his functions.
France has ten territories that have their own local age of consent laws. These territories are listed in the following table:
| Territory of France | Region | Age Of Consent |
|---|---|---|
| Clipperton Island | North America | 15 |
| French Guiana | South America | 15 |
| French Polynesia | Oceania | 15 |
| French Southern and Antarctic Lands | Africa | 15 |
| Guateloupe | North America | 15 |
| Iles Eparses | Africa | 15 |
| Martinique | North America | 15 |
| Mayotte | Africa | 15 |
| Reunion | Africa | 15 |
| Wallis and Futuna | Oceania | 15 |
France does not have a close-in-age exemption. Close in age exemptions, commonly known as "Romeo and Juliet laws" in the United States, are put in place to prevent the prosecution of individuals who engage in consensual sexual activity when both participants are significantly close in age to each other, and one or both partners are below the age of consent.
Because there is no close-in-age exemption in France, it is possible for two individuals both under the age of 15 who willingly engage in intercourse to both be prosecuted for statutory rape, although this is rare. Similarly, no protections are reserved for sexual relations in which one participant is a 14 year old and the second is a 15 or 16 year old.
Age of Consent across the world
The Age of Consent ranges from as low as 11 to as high as 20 years old across the world. Click any country for details, or view countries with the highest & lowest ages of consent.
Age of Consent Map:
< 13 years old
14 years old
15 years old
17 years old
18 years old
> 19 years old
Back to list of international ages of consent View state ages of consent in the USA