Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which was last updated in 2004, and the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), a national anti-sexual violence organization.
We looked through two databases in the U.S. We analyzed statutory rape laws in 50 states across the U.S., as well as in Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. However, the legal definition varies across states. The “age of consent” is defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary as the age at which one is legally competent to give consent, especially to marriage or to sexual intercourse.