Magistrate says no to lowering age of consent
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Maxine Ellis, the magistrate in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court, has declared that she is not in support of calls to lower the age of consent to 14.
The age of sexual consent in Jamaica is 16 years old. As such, a girl below the age of 16 cannot by law consent to having sexual intercourse with anyone, whether he is her boyfriend (and is of the same age or age group as she is) or an older man.
It has always been a controversial topic in Jamaica and has been the centre of several debates, with some advocating for it to be lowered to 14 years old while others are calling for it to be increased to 18.
But, Magistrate Ellis, during Monday’s sitting of the court, made it clear that she was not in support of lowering the age of consent.
“I don’t want to be around when it goes to 14,” the magistrate said. “I don’t want to see it at 14.”
“If it is so bad now, can you imagine 14!” she remarked.
The magistrate made her comment after a case was mentioned in which a man was charged for having sex with an underage girl.
Tanesha Mundle