User:Jmckeon ie/svav

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Jmckeon ie/svav

Sexual violence is any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work.

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The age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent of consenting to sexual acts. This should not be confused with the age of majority, age of criminal responsibility, or the marriageable age.

The age of consent varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The median seems to range from 14 to 16 years, but laws stating ages ranging from 9 to 21 do exist. In many jurisdictions, age of consent is interpreted to mean mental or functional age. As a result, victims can be of any chronological age if their mental age is below the age of consent. Some jurisdictions forbid sexual activity outside of legal marriage completely. The relevant age may also vary by the type of sexual act, the sex of the actors, or other restrictions such as abuse of a position of trust. Some jurisdictions may also make allowances for minors engaged in sexual acts with each other, rather than a single age. Charges resulting from a breach of these laws may range from a relatively low-level misdemeanor such as "corruption of a minor," to "statutory rape" (which is considered equivalent to rape, both in severity and sentencing).

There are many grey areas in this area of law, some regarding unspecific and untried legislation, others brought about by debates regarding changing societal attitudes, and others due to conflicts between federal and state laws. These factors all make age of consent an often confusing subject, and a topic of highly charged debates.

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The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is a non-governmental charitable body based in the United Kingdom. It offers an online service for the public and IT professionals to report content on the Internet that is considered to be "potentially illegal". As part of its function, the IWF produces a blacklist of Internet sites and content that it deems to be in contravention/potentially in contravention to UK laws. Many UK based ISPs use this list to filter the content available to their subscribers.

The IWF operates in informal partnership with the police, government, public and Internet service providers. Originally formed to police suspected child pornography online, the IWF's remit was later expanded to cover racist and criminally obscene material: it must be said that 96% (by substantive area paragraph count) of the website is concerned with child pornography - whilst case "successes" are given on the IWF site regarding child pornography, no details are given for racism etc.

The IWF is an incorporated charity, limited by guarantee, and largely funded by voluntary contributions from UK communications service providers, including ISPs, mobile phone operators, Internet trade associations, search engines, hardware manufacturers, and software providers. It also receives funding from the Association for Payment Clearing Services and the European Union.

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