Posts Misrepresent U.N. Panel’s Guidance on Consensual Sex Between Adolescents
Quick Take
An international judicial panel working with the United Nations’ AIDS agency issued recommendations in March on laws related to sexual conduct, including consensual sex between adolescents. Social media posts misrepresented the recommendations, with one falsely claiming, “UN wants to decriminalize sex between minors and adults.”
Full Story
The International Commission of Jurists, or ICJ, is an international human rights organization comprised of 60 judges and lawyers “dedicated to ensuring respect for international human rights standards through law.” The ICJ is an advocacy body working in coordination with the United Nations to develop and advocate for those standards at the international level.
On March 8, the ICJ, along with the U.N.’s titled, “The 8 March Principles for a Human Rights-Based Approach to Criminal Law Proscribing Conduct Associated with Sex, Reproduction, Drug Use, HIV, Homelessness and Poverty.” The report is composed of 21 legal principles to guide the application of international and criminal law in an attempt to curb the abuse of state power.
