Crawford Calls for Age of Consent to Be Raised to 18

A proposal to increase Jamaica’s legal age of consent from 16 to 18 has been put forward by Opposition spokesman on education Damion Crawford, who argued that the change should form part of a broader response to challenges within the education system.

He indicated that the recommendation is tied to concerns over teenage pregnancy, noting that national data suggests approximately 6,000 school-aged girls become pregnant each year.

He explained that this trend is a major contributor to school dropouts among females, with nearly half of those who leave doing so due to pregnancy.

Crawford made the case during his contribution to the 2026/27 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, where he suggested that as Jamaica transitions towards a longer secondary school structure, the legal framework governing consent should be reconsidered.

He also pointed to the wider implications of the annual figure of about 6,000 schoolgirl pregnancies, noting that across the school system this equates to tens of thousands of students being children of teenage mothers.

In addition to the proposal, discussions are already taking place at the parliamentary level, where a joint select committee reviewing the Child Diversion Act is considering provisions that would allow certain close-in-age relationships, including between a 15-year-old girl and a 19-year-old male under defined circumstances.

Crawford positioned the call within a broader critique of declining student engagement, highlighting that absenteeism rates remain elevated across all regions.

He noted that missing significant portions of the school year contributes to students eventually leaving the system.

He further referenced figures showing that dropout rates stand at 25 per cent at the lower secondary level and 15 per cent at the upper secondary level. Among boys, he said lack of interest has become a growing factor, with the proportion increasing from 19 per cent in 2010 to 32 per cent in 2017.

The issue of consent laws has been revisited before in Jamaica. The last amendment came in 1988, when changes to the Offences Against the Person Act raised the age from 14 to 16, a move that was linked at the time to efforts to address teenage pregnancy and protect younger girls.

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