The highlighted age is that from which a young person can lawfully engage in a non-commercial sexual act with an older person, regardless of their age difference, provided the older one is not in a position of power, a relative, or is committing another form of exploitation (such as abuse of power or dependence). The laws can also stipulate which specific activities are permitted or specify the age at which one or other sex can legally participate. The vast majority of countries set their ages in the range of 14 to 16 only three countries, Cyprus (17), Ireland (17), Turkey (18), do not fit into this pattern. The ages of consent are between 14 and 18.
The ages of consent vary by jurisdiction across Europe. ( October 2018) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) In particular, it has problems with missing semantical and accessible elements (such as description lists or quotes/blockquotes) and using pseudo-headings inappropriately. This article needs editing for compliance with Wikipedia's Manual of Style.
