Rotor

What is the age of consent in Spain? , Ive was told its only 13 which I find disgusting and worrying as a parent

cricketman

Yep

But dont worry Spain has one of the lowest rates of teenage pregnancy in the world and an average age of losing virginity for girls of 18.

The strictest laws are in the US and UK. Which also have the highest rates of abortions and teenage pregnancy.

Banning something doesnt make it better! In Spain it isnt illegal to have sex at 14, but it is socially unacceptable to, the parents wont let their kids do it. Many Spanish teenagers have no space of their own which is why you often see them kissing on park benches when they are 17/18, they have nowhere else to go!

bil

Interesting.

In Holland where abortion is legal, they used to have the lowest rate of abortions. (That was until the immigration rate went thru the roof and skewed the figures.)

Same sort of thing was reflected in teen pregnancies, first sex, first drug use.

In so many cases, a more liberal, educated response beats authoritarian any day.

Rosemary

I have a feeling that there is also another aspect to their ruling on the age of consent regarding the age difference between the youngsters. Not sure what this is but think that there must not be more than a couple of years difference in their ages.

Rosemary

cricketman

Yep and it has to be engrained socially into people what is acceptable and not. Banning something makes it even more sexy. And actually imo the Anglo-saxon culture uses sex to sell a lot more than Spanish culture does, which adds to the confusion in teenage minds.

Here are teenage birth rates to back up what I said before:

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/pe...age-birth-rate

In the UK the argument was always that teenagers need to more education and access to contraceptives. However, my OH said they got no sex education in Spain at school and some of her local pharmacies refused to sell contraceptives. And she says when she started uni at 17, most the girls she knew where virgins and most importantly, it wasnt an issue (she and her friends aren't Catholic).

cricketman

Yes, I think it is similar to the Netherlands, in that you have to be under 16 to have sex with someone who is under 16.

I asked my OH and she doesnt actually know, which tells you how important the law is

Rotor

Its very important to a child /parents of who is being groomed / cohearsed

cricketman

What?

So you think adults who groom teenagers care what the law thinks?

Adults dont have sex with 13 year olds in Spain. It doesnt happen (you may find a few cases in the media over the past 10 years if you look carefully!). The media are not obsessed with paedophiles and parents generally arent afraid to let their children play outside, or their teenagers to go on nights out when they are 14/15.

Being a teenager in Spain is safe and you have a lot of freedom. As long as you have a stable and responsible family background of course. That is the important thing and why so many teenage girls in the US and UK end of in such awful situations.

If you are worried about your teenage girl in Spain then just be thankful they are not in the UK! All the stats back this up. As it will if you have watched a lot of Spanish and UK TV.

You are thinking with your British brain i.e. what legal is right, what is illegal is wrong. Spanish people are anarchists who do what THEY think is right. You can tell this when you go for a drive The good thing about being an anarchist is people are responsible for their own actions rather than delegating them to the government.

bil

A most interesting thought, and I would say absolutely correct.

Rosemary

From conversations with Spanish young ladies I have been given the impression that although they often have sex before marriage they are also inclined to only have sex with their future husband. A boyfriend does not seem to be called a boyfriend until he is the intended one, prior to that they just seem to be called special friends. Maybe that lessens what we would classify as underage sex and also lessens unwanted pregnancies. Presumably if the young man is labelled as the intended and they have sex and a pregnancy results they just become a family unit in their own right. I have also noticed that they often have the child and then marry a year or two later so although it is a Catholic country they do not necessarily marry as virgins.

rosemary

Rotor

"Adults dont have sex with 13 year olds in Spain. It doesnt happen" Probably the most ridiculas stament youve ever made om this forum ,paedo`s are are in every nationality and culture ,guess youve forgot about the catholic church and the fact Spain is a catholic country


As for teenagers being safe in Spain , I guess you also forgot that Spain consumes more cocain than any other european country .

I know whats morally right and wrong without the laws of any country telling me.

cricketman

Pretty much what I have learnt too.

Only the very religious would be virgins when they marry, although it is still a bit of a taboo to have children without being married, that was the only request my OH's parents had

But you are right that the term "novio/a" is more formal in Spain than in the UK. As introducing them to your parents is a big thing that only happens once you are sure about the relationship.

There are exceptions, for example people have a lot more freedom in Madrid, as a lot of young people have left their family connections back in their home town, so they dont have to live up to a "reputation". My OH said she was wary about flirting with boys in her home town as a teenager as "everyone knows you and knows your parents". This is in Oviedo with 250,000 people.

EsuriJohn

No its just more fun and romantic!!!!

whitelinen

What planet are you on?

The 18 year old son of my Spanish cleaner has been having regular sex with a 13 year old Spanish girl. To make life easier for them the girls parents let him sleep in the girls bed as well!! When she told me she said she was surprised that I was so shocked.

The whole town knows but nobody has shunned or attacked them.

Contraceptives have been available in garages and pharmacies for the past 8 or 10 years.

cricketman

Well, maybe that is the thing, as JLFS has pointed out before I dont know any cleaners. My friends and family are very middle class. What you describe is shocking to my OH, I just told her

Yes, re: contraceptives I was talking about when my OH was at school so 13 years ago now.