Sexual Offences Act 1993

United Kingdom legislation

Sexual Offences Act 1993
Dates
United Kingdom Parliament
Long title	An Act to abolish the presumption of criminal law that a boy under the age of fourteen is incapable of sexual intercourse.
Citation	1956 c. 30
Territorial extent	England and Wales
Royal assent	20 July 1993
Commencement	20 September 1993
Status: Current legislation
Text of the Sexual Offences Act 1993 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Sexual Offences Act 1993 (c.30) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that abolished the presumption that a boy under the age of fourteen is incapable of sexual intercourse. Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003, if a boy under the age of fourteen intentionally penetrates a woman's vagina with his penis without her consent, he is guilty of rape. Prior to the passage of the Sexual Offences Act 1993, and under the former Sexual Offences Act 1956, the boy would have been presumed physically incapable of penantrating the woman's vagina with his penis, and could not have been considered guilty of rape.

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