Global Progress Towards Ending the Sexual Exploitation of Children
A global problem requires truly global solutions to address the sexual exploitation of children.
Indicators
Age of Consent
No
The age of sexual consent is 13 years for both girls and boys. The national legislation does not provide for a close-in-age exemption.
Analysis of country legislation on age of sexual consent, 2024
Extraterritoriality & Extradition
No
No detailed information is provided on extraterritoriality for SEC-related crimes or the applicability of the double criminality principle.
Extradition applies only to offences with a punishment of imprisonment to which the semi sum of the minimum and maximum years is at least of one year, which means some SEC-related offences are excluded. Furthermore, the double criminality requirement is applied for extradition.
SECTT Legal Checklist Argentina, 2020
CSAM Definition
Not Yet Assessed
Background Check Required
No
There are no mandatory legal provisions for criminal background checks nor legislation prohibiting convicted sex offenders to hold positions involving or facilitating contact with children.
SECTT Legal Checklist Argentina, 2020
National Commitments
Partial
Argentina has ratified the CRC, the OPSC, the OPIC, the Trafficking Protocol and the ILO Convention No. 182.
Argentina has also ratified the Council of Europe's Budapest Convention.
Argentina has not ratified the UNWTO Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics nor the Council of Europe's Lanzarote Convention.
SECTT Legal Checklist Argentina, 2020
Child Advocacy Centers
Not Yet Assessed
SEC Police Unit
Not Yet Assessed
Protection Standards Travel and Tourism
Partial
Argentina has implemented a national code for child protection in travel and tourism as a non-binding requirement for industry operators.
SECTT Legal Checklist Argentina, 2020
Public SEC Case Data
Not Yet Assessed
Age of Consent Law is Appropriate
The age of sexual consent for both males and females is 18 and a close in age exemption (up to 3 years) is provided for consensual sexual relationships between adolescents.
The age of sexual consent is the legally defined age at which a person is considered mature enough to agree to sexual activity. The age of sexual consent varies across jurisdictions around the world and there is no international legal instrument establishing it, however various forms of advocacy have encouraged States to establish a minimum age under which engaging in sexual contact is considered a criminal offence. This is intended to prevent sexual contact with children and to prevent argument that the child consented as a defence.
Often national provisions related to the age of sexual consent include an exception, known as a close-in-age exemption, making consensual sexual activities between young people lawful if the partners are of similar ages and the age difference is not higher than a certain number of years.
To ensure that cases of child sexual exploitation do not go unpunished, ECPAT advocates for the age of sexual consent to be set at 18 for both males and females with a close-in-age exemption of 2-3 years provided in order to ensure young people are not penalised for consensual sexual acts with peers. The age from which the exemption applies should be established by States but may begin for young people somewhere between 12 and 16 years of age.
Yes The national legislation explicitly indicates that the age of sexual consent unequivocally is 18 for both males and females, with a close-in-age exemption for sexual acts between peers (of up to 3 years) is provided by law.