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
Partial
Age of sexual consent is 18 years. The national legislation does not provide for a close-in-age exemption.
ECO Central African Republic, 2018
Extraterritoriality & Extradition
No
The CAR Criminal Code provides for the application of active extraterritorial jurisdiction for offences committed outside the territory by Central African citizens but double criminality is required. Habitual residents are not included. The CAR has not established passive extraterritorial jurisdiction in its domestic legislation. The Criminal Code provides for universal jurisdiction over crimes as established by international treaties. SEC related offences are not included.
Extradition of Central African nationals is not permitted. Extradition is only allowed if the perpetrator has committed an offence in the territory of the requesting State; outside its territory by a national of that State; or outside its territory by a person foreign to that State, when the offense can be prosecuted under Central African law. Extraditable offences are those punishable by criminal penalties by the law of the requesting State; and those punishable by correctional sentence by the law of the requesting State, when the maximum the prison sentence incurred is equal to or greater than two years, or if extradition is requested to serve a sentence, the sentence is equal to or greater than two months of imprisonment. Double criminality is required for proceeding with extradition. There is no specific provision on extradition of SEC related offences in the domestic legislation.
Criminal Code,
Code of Criminal Procedure,
CEMAC Extradition Agreement, 2010, 2010, 2004
CSAM Definition
No
The national legislation does not provide a definition of CSAM which is in line with international standards.
ECO Central African Republic, 2018
Background Check Required
Not Yet Assessed
National Commitments
Partial
The Central African Republic has ratified the CRC, the OPSC, the Trafficking Protocol and the ILO Convention No. 182.
The Central African Republic has also ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
The Central African Republic has not ratified the OPIC, the UNWTO Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics nor the AU Convention on Cyber Security and the Council of Europe's Lanzarote and Budapest Conventions.
ECO Central African Republic, 2018
Child Advocacy Centers
Not Yet Assessed
SEC Police Unit
Partial
The main unit including SEC in its mandate is the Mixed Unit for Rapid Response for the Repression of Sexual Violence against Women and Children (Unité Mixte de Réponse Rapide et de Répression des violences sexuelles faites aux femmes et aux enfants / UMIRR) which includes members of the gendarmery and the Central African Police.
No information has been found on whether this Unit is fully functional and whether both offences under national and extra-territorial jurisdiction are able to be addressed by it.
ECO Central African Republic, 2018
Protection Standards Travel and Tourism
Not Yet Assessed
Public SEC Case Data
No
Data on SEC cases is not publicly available.
ECO Central African Republic, 2018
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.