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| Long title | An Act to reduce the age at which, and to make provision with respect to the circumstances in which, certain sexual acts are lawful; to make it an offence for a person aged 18 or over to engage in sexual activity with or directed towards a person under that age if he is in a position of trust in relation to that person; and for connected purposes. |
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| Citation | 2000 c.44 |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 30 November 2000 |
| Commencement | 8 January 2001 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | Sexual Offences Act 2003 |
Status: Partially repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
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| LGBTQ rights in the United Kingdom |
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The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 (c.44) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It set the age of consent for male homosexual sexual activities and for heterosexual anal sex at 16 (17 in Northern Ireland), which had long been the age of consent for all other types of sexual activities, such as vaginal sex or lesbian sex. As such, it made the age of consent for all types of sexual acts equal, without discrimimating on the basis of the type of act or of the sexes of those involved in the act. It also introduced the new offence of 'having sexual intercourse or engaging in any other sexual activity with a person under 18 if in a position of trust in relation to that person'.