Ages of Consent in North America - Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda

In Antigua and Barbuda, the age of consent is 16. The Sexual Offences Act of 1995 raised the age of consent from 14 to 16 years of age.

• Sexual Intercourse with female between fourteen and sixteen

6. (1) Where a male person has sexual intercourse with a female person who is not his wife with her consent and who has attained the age of fourteen years but has not yet attained the age of sixteen years, he is guilty of an offence, and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for ten years.

(2) A male person is not guilty of an offence under subsection (1) –

(a) if he honestly believed that the female person was sixteen years of age or more; or

(b) if the male person is not more than three years older than the female person and the court is of the opinion that the evidence discloses that as between the male person and the female person, the male person is not wholly or substantially to blame.

• Sexual intercourse with male under sixteen

7. (1) Where a female adult has sexual intercourse with a male person who is not her husband and who is under the age of sixteen years, she is guilty of an offence, whether or not the male person consented to the intercourse, and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for seven years.

A female adult is not guilty of an offence under subsection (1) –

(a) if she honestly believed that the male person was sixteen years of age or more; or

(b) if the female adult is not more than three years older than the male person and the court is of the opinion that evidence discloses that as between the female adult and the male person, the female adult is not wholly or substantially to blame.