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Sex - What's Legal?

If you're a boy or a girl under 16, it's ONLY legal to:

Masturbate
Kiss
Kiss with tongues
Rub up against someone else as long as you're both wearing clothes

If you're a boy or a girl over 16 in the UK, it's legal to do all this, plus:

Have sex with someone of the other gender over 16
Have oral sex
Have anal sex
Finger a girl who is over 16 / Be fingered by a boy

You can do this when you are over 17 in Northern Ireland

If you're a boy or a girl over 18, it's legal to do all this, plus:

Have gay sex in private, so long as you’re both 18 or over. (The law may well change on this shortly.)
Go into a sex shop
Pawn things at a pawn shop

OTHER POINTS:

· If you're a boy, whether you're under or over 16, you can be prosecuted if you have sex / oral sex / finger a girl who's under 16 - even if she wanted it to happen.

· If you're a girl who has sex / oral sex / fingering under 16, you can't be prosecuted. However, the boy you have sex with can be prosecuted - even if you wanted to have sex with him. It might not seem fair, but it's the law.

· All sexual activity - including kissing - is only legal if you want it to happen. If you don't want it to happen and you've struggled or said no, it's sexual assault or rape and it's your right to report it to the police.

Don't put up with anything you're not completely comfortable with. Just because you can do it, it doesn't mean that you have to.