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
Not Yet Assessed
Extraterritoriality & Extradition
No
The country does not have adequate extraterritoriality rules. Active and passive extraterritorial jurisdictions are not regulated, and the exercise of universal jurisdiction is limited to some international crimes (genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity) that do not include the sexual exploitation of children.
Extradition is regulated by the Constitution, the rules of treaties, and agreements and it is governed by the principle of reciprocity, the principle of dual criminality and the principle of severity of the punishment as the offence has to be punishable with at least one year of imprisonment in both states to be extraditable. The extradition of Dominican nationals is limited to offences contained in bilateral treaties or a list of offences contained in Article 4 of the Law on Extradition, and the extradition of foreigners is limited to the list contained in Article 8 of the Law on Extradition, unless otherwise provided in an international treaty. Only some SEC related offences are included as extraditable offences in those provisions.
Criminal Code,
Code of Criminal Procedure,
Law on Extradition, 2007, 2007, 1969
CSAM Definition
No Data
Background Check Required
No Data
National Commitments
No Data
Child Advocacy Centers
No Data
SEC Police Unit
No Data
Protection Standards Travel and Tourism
No Data
Public SEC Case Data
No Data
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.