Comparative perspectives on regulating age of consent and child-marriage in the British Empire, 1880 to 1930

This is a call for proposals for a one-day interdisciplinary conference which aims to explore the debates that led to the reform of age of consent laws around the British Empire during the years 1880 to 1930. The conference is particularly interested in exploring the issues of age of consent and child marriage through interdisciplinary and comparative perspectives in law and history.

Intertwined within these debates are notions of gender, women’s rights, biology, and attempts to understand the native psyche. These compete with tropes of cultural relativism, orientalism, the female victim, and the white man’s burden amongst other concerns. For the purpose of this conference, consent is interpreted widely to include physical and intellectual consent to sexual activities as well as marriage. The conference aims to bring together the growing number of scholars who are currently working on the histories of age of consent in the British Empire.

Recognising that the development and history of the age of consent debate is transnational, international, and multi-layered one, the conference is conceived of as a starting point for forming an international network of scholars working in the area. Themes of the conference include but are not limited to:

• Notions of consent – physical and/or intellectual
• Age of consent campaigns and national movements
• Religion / class / region based perspectives on consent
• Comparative or regional studies on age of consent/marriage
• Age of consent for males
• Consent, female body, and nationalism/imperialism

Bursaries will be available for PG students.

REGISTRATION (via Eventbrite)

Organisers: Dr Kanika Sharma (SOAS) and Dr Laura Lammasniemi (University of Warwick)

This conference is supported by generous funding from The Society of Legal Scholars and the Economic History Society