Sexual Offences Act 1956

Sexual Offences Act 1956
Act of Parliament
	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to consolidate (with corrections and improvements made under the Consolidation of Enactments (Procedure) Act, 1949) the statute law of England and Wales relating to sexual crimes, to the abduction, procuration and prostitution of women and to kindred offences, and to make such adaptations of statutes extending beyond England and Wales as are needed in consequence of that consolidation.
Citation	4 & 5 Eliz. 2. c. 69
Territorial extent	England and Wales; Northern Ireland (section 50);
Dates
Royal assent	2 August 1956
Commencement	1 January 1957
Repealed	mostly 1 May 2004
Other legislation
Amends	Extradition Act 1873; Children and Young Persons Act 1933; Firearms Act 1937; Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1938; Magistrates' Courts Act 1952; Visiting Forces Act 1952; See § Repealed enactments;
Repeals/revokes	See § Repealed enactments
Amended by	Mental Health Act 1959; Indecency with Children Act 1960; Children and Young Persons Act 1963; Criminal Law Act 1967; Sexual Offences Act 1967; Firearms Act 1968; Family Law Reform Act 1969; Children and Young Persons Act 1969; Courts Act 1971; Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973; Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1974; Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 1976; Criminal Law Act 1977; Magistrates' Courts Act 1980; Criminal Attempts Act 1981; Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984; Sexual Offences Act 1985; Extradition Act 1989; Children Act 1989; Local Government and Housing Act 1989; Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1993; Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994; Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000; Sexual Offences Act 2003; Statute Law (Repeals) Act 2008; Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2022;
Repealed by	Sexual Offences Act 2003
Relates to	Consolidation of Enactments (Procedure) Act 1949;
Status: Partially repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended
Text of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Sexual Offences Act 1956 (4 & 5 Eliz. 2. c. 69) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that consolidated the English criminal law relating to sexual offences between 1957 and 2004. It was mostly repealed (from 1 May 2004) by the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which replaced it, but sections 33 to 37 still survive. The 2003 act also added a new section 33A. These sections create offences to deal with brothels.

Although the rest of the act has been repealed, the repealed sections still apply to sex crimes committed before the repeal, such as in the Pitcairn sexual assault trial of 2004.