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 16 years. The national legislation does not provide for a close-in-age exception.
Analysis of country legislation on age of sexual consent, 2024
Extraterritoriality & Extradition
Partial
Active extraterritoriality is provided over Latvian citizens and habitual residents in Latvia who commit a crime outside the territory of Latvia and passive extraterritoriality is provided over foreigners who commit serious or especially serious crimes outside the territory of Latvia against the interests of its inhabitants if they have not been held criminally liable or committed to stand trial in accordance with the laws of the state where the crime was committed. Passive extraterritoriality cannot be applied to some SEC related offences since the law does not provide a lower limit of the penalty but rather provides penalties of up to a number of years (i.e. “up to 5 years”). Universal jurisdiction is provided over foreigners who commit crimes outside Latvia in the cases provided for in international agreements binding upon Latvia if they have not been held criminally liable for such offence or committed to stand trial in the territory of another state. The principle of double criminality is not required for proceeding with extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Extradition of Latvian citizens is not permitted unless otherwise provided in an international agreement ratified by Latvia and the extradition of Latvian citizens to an EU Member State is conditioned to their return to Latvia for the serving of the custodial sentence imposed after conviction. Double criminality and severity of the punishment principles apply to extradition of a person to a foreign country.
SEC offences are referred to as extraditable under the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) framework within the EU without requiring double criminality if the act is punishable by a maximum period of at least three years of imprisonment in the requesting State.
Criminal Code,Code of Criminal Procedure, 1998 (status as of 2023), 2005 (status as of 2022)
CSAM Definition
Not Yet Assessed
Background Check Required
Not Yet Assessed
National Commitments
Not Yet Assessed
Child Advocacy Centers
Not Yet Assessed
SEC Police Unit
Not Yet Assessed
Protection Standards Travel and Tourism
Not Yet Assessed
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.