The age at which the law considers a person old enough to decide to have sex with another person. “Depending on what state or territory you’re in, you can only give consent to engage in certain sexual acts once you’ve reached a certain age. Until you’ve reached that age – ‘the age of consent‘ – the law says you cannot give your permission to have sex. So even though you might have agreed to have sex with someone, that person can still be charged with sexual assault if you haven’t reached the age of consent.”