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Changes in Statutory Rape Laws Across the United States From 2000 to 2021: A Publicly Available, Longitudinal
Kaya Van Roost1, Miranda Horn1, Megan Butler1
1Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health
|January 16, 2026
Summary
Statutory rape laws vary widely across US states, with most having close-in-age and marital exceptions. These laws saw minimal changes between 2000 and 2021, prompting a need for policy review.
Area of Science:
- Legal Studies
- Criminology
- Public Health Policy
Background:
- Statutory rape laws define the age of consent and its exceptions.
- Limited scholarly examination exists due to a lack of comprehensive legal databases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To create a longitudinal database of US statutory rape laws from 2000-2021.
- To analyze changes in age of consent, close-in-age exceptions, and marital exemptions.
Main Methods:
- Compiled a database of statutory rape laws for all 50 US states and Washington, DC (2000-2021).
- Coded laws based on age of consent, close-in-age exceptions, and marital exemptions.
- Examined temporal changes in these legal provisions.
Main Results:
- In 2021, ages of consent were 16 (32 states), 17 (7 states), and 18 (12 states).
- Most states featured close-in-age (39 states) and marital exemptions (39 states).
- Between 2000-2021: one state raised age of consent, few states altered exceptions/exemptions.
Conclusions:
- Significant state-level variation exists in statutory rape laws and their exceptions.
- Laws within states remained largely static over the two decades studied.
- The findings highlight the need for empirical research to inform statutory rape law structure and policy.
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