Tilburg University Protection versus autonomy Guangxing, Zhu Publication date: 2018 Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in Tilburg University Research Portal Citation for published version (APA): Guangxing, Z. (2018). Protection versus autonomy: The newest developments in age of consent legislation in Europe and China. Tilburg University. 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Download date: 26. sep. 2021 Protection versus autonomy: The newest developments in age of consent legislation in Europe and China Guangxing Zhu INTERVICT, Tilburg University 1 2 Protection versus autonomy: The newest developments in age of consent legislation in Europe and China Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan Tilburg University op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof.dr. E.H.L. Aarts, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties aangewezen commissie in de aula van de Universiteit op maandag 2 juli 2018 om 14.00 uur door Guangxing Zhu geboren te Henan, China in 1988 3 Promotores: Prof.dr. A.L. Smeulers Prof.mr. S. van der Aa Overige leden van de promotiecommissie: Prof.dr. M.S. Groenhuijsen Prof.dr. J. Hendriks Prof.dr. Z. Yu Mr.dr. M. Malsch 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 9 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 9 2. Industrialization and childhood .................................................................................... 10 3. Childhood and sexuality ................................................................................................ 13 4. The modern framing of children as active agents ....................................................... 15 5. Aim and relevance of the research ............................................................................... 17 6. Outline of the thesis ...................................................................................................... 25 Chapter 2 Trends of age of consent legislation in Europe: A comparative study of 59 jurisdictions on the European continent ......................................................................... 35 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 36 2. Age of consent and childhood .......................................................................................... 37 3. Age of consent and homosexuality .................................................................................. 39 4. The goal of the study ........................................................................................................ 40 5. Methods ........................................................................................................................... 42 6. Results .............................................................................................................................. 45 6.1. Raising the general age of consent ............................................................................ 57 6.2 Equalizing the age of consent for homo- and heterosexual sex ................................ 60 6.3. Increasing attention for authority (more multistage systems) ................................. 63 7. Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 64 8. Limitations ........................................................................................................................ 68 Chapter 3 European legislators’ attitudes towards childhood sexuality from the perspective of age of consent legislation ............................................................................................... 73 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 74 2. Definition of “child” and “adolescent” ............................................................................. 75 3. The history of childhood sexuality ................................................................................... 77 5 3.1 The construction of childhood.................................................................................... 77 3.2 The history of childhood sexuality .............................................................................. 78 4. Discourses of children’s sexuality .................................................................................... 80 4.1 Asexual innocents ....................................................................................................... 81 4.2 Binary: Innocent children versus knowing children ................................................... 82 4.3 Moral panic: sexual beings in need of strict control .................................................. 83 4.4 The common characteristics of the three discourses ................................................ 85 4.5 A new emerging discourse ......................................................................................... 88 5. Children’s sexuality and age of consent ........................................................................... 89 5.1 The relationship between children’s sexuality and age of consent ........................... 90 5.2 Trends in age of consent legislation in Europe........................................................... 91 6. Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 99 7. Discussion ....................................................................................................................... 102 Chapter 4 A comparison of the gender-specificity of age of consent legislation in Europe and China: Towards a gender-neutral age of consent in China? ............................................ 109 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 110 2. An overview of the gendered age of consent legislation in Europe before the 21st century 112 2.1. Age of consent and the construction of childhood ............................................. 112 2.2. Age of consent and the stereotypical roles of males and females ..................... 113 2.3. Criticism on the gender-specific approach in age of consent legislation ............ 118 3. Towards a gender-neutral approach in the 21st century in Europe .......................... 119 4. Age of consent in the People’s Republic of China ...................................................... 124 5. Discussion and recommendations .............................................................................. 129 Chapter 5 Early sexual initiation in Europe and its relationship with legislative change: A systematic review ......................................................................................................... 137 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 138 6 2. Trends of sexual initiation in Europe in the late 20th and early 21st century ............. 140 2.1 Methods ............................................................................................................... 140 2.2 Results .................................................................................................................. 144 3. Trends of age of consent legislation in Europe .......................................................... 151 4. General discussion and conclusion ............................................................................. 152 5. Limitations................................................................................................................... 158 Chapter 6 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 165 1. Aim of the thesis ......................................................................................................... 165 2. A synthesis of the findings and reflections ................................................................. 167 2.1. Legislation ............................................................................................................ 168 2.2. Practice ................................................................................................................ 173 2.3. Reflections ........................................................................................................... 174 3. Limitations of the study .............................................................................................