Why is a 16 year old still legally a child but they can consent to sex?

[Anonymouse2019]

Serious question.

Also, a person needs to be 17 to drive, 18 to buy alcohol, but at 16, they can consent to sex? Are these things an issue for parents when raising teens?

My kids are still young but I worry about what their youths will be like with inconsistencies like these.

The logic here makes sense to me. But the legislative procedure in the UK works quite differently to many other countries. In addition the court’s interpretation of a sliding scale could have significant difficulties, particularly on borderline cases, not to mention the delays in cases going to trial.

Even in the UK there are variations; you can marry at 16 in Scotland.

I think the ae of consent should be lowered to 15 or even 14 BUT a restriction on age difference of maybe max 2 years until the youngest partner is18.
I do not think it is right to tell 2 sexually mature consenting people what they can and can't do with their own bodies.
Below the age of 14 though, I would be hesitant to condone sex because they are mostly still children.

The age for consent to sex has been in place since 1885, bizarrely it was initially only the age for girls, there is no restriction on the age of the partner of a 16 year old in a consensual sexual relationship unless they are a teacher or in a position of authority, whatever that actually means, as regards the others, there have been numerous calls to raise the driving age due to the much higher number of serious incidents involving those aged 17 to 24 and Labour have said they would reduce the age to vote to 16, smoking, potentially wouldn’t be accessible to anyone below 15 at any time under the conservative plan

We have an age of consent largely because a lot of adult men want to have sex with particularly underage girls but boys too. It isn’t really about stopping teens from experiencing and exploring their own sexuality in age appropriate ways.

The Head of the Metropolitan police gave the stats on actual levels of sex offenders and offences including an estimate at the number of men interested in children. It is beyond staggering. Of course in spite of this most of use have to pretend the numbers aren’t as high as they are and the risk isn’t as high as it is to feel safe.

I guess maybe 16 accounts for the fact that by that time, other than a tiny percentage of people with medically delayed puberty, pretty much everyone is post-pubescent, whereas at 14 some people might not be so it possibly blurs the lines in terms of what is acceptable.

No, this answer is misinformed. The UK doesn't have Romeo and Juliet laws as has been said many times.

teenagers will do what teenagers do! i think if you spoke to many teenagers, these numbers are hilarious to them and its a joke. if a 15 year old wants to have sex, they will do. if a 17 year old wants to drink they will.

its a 'eyes of the law' thing. there has to be a cut off point! there has to be a physical number for everything.

Because times have changed so rapidly that the law hasn't been able to keep pace.

oh here we go with the 'men' thing. there are plenty of adult females who want to have sex with underage boys too...

It varies so much across Europe
Austria 14
Germany 14
France 15
Denmark 15
Cyprus 17
Some have additional protections such as a five year age gap or provisions around capacity and understanding but it's difficult to legislate against something the majority of young people are interested in.

They have this in Italy. I forget the exact ages, but the general age of consent is (say) 16 but it drops to 14 (or similar) BUT only if both partners are under 16.

Where did I say they did have a Romeo and Juliet clause? I think you read into it something it didn’t say.

Merely that the age of consent is set below 18 so teens can experiment in an age appropriate way and so that men can’t abuse children.

What about consenting to medical procedures

Look up Gillick competency. You assess minors accordingly, and if appropriate they can have a say in, and consent, or not, to medical procedures. It can get grey and tricky obviously in certain cases, and in extreme circumstances a court ruling will be made.

@Miriad the statutory school leaving age in England is still 16.
So many people get that wrong.
I am confused why you couldn't report an adult volunteer for having a sexual relationship with a 16 year old because that would have come under the rule that adults in a "position of trust" are not allowed to have those relationships.
This rule covers things like a 26 year old teacher is not allowed to have a sexual relationship with a 16 year old pupil.

This law was only introduced in 2022. The incident I mentioned happened in 2016, it was a man in his 40s who groomed a 16yo at a youth group.

I’m glad the law has changed so adults in positions of trust can’t abuse 16-17yo. But it needs to go further, because when the young person turns 18 the law still wouldn’t cover a sexual relationship with an adult volunteer, even though it’s still wrong. Predators will just wait till the child turns 18.

@Miriad the loophole (it didn't cover youth groups etc) was changed in 2022 but the rule has been around longer but I didn't actually realise that until I just checked 🙁
(although in the case you said about I hope social services got involved)

I'd like to see the age of consent at 18, unless the person they are having sex with is either the same age, plus or minus 1 year.

Yeah I don't think that's it at all. As I said, if that were the purpose, there'd be Romeo and Juliet laws. Right now teens under 16 can't experiment even with each other, and there's nothing stopping a 30 year old man from sleeping with a 16 year old.

Also you sound quite tinfoil hat with the "we're meant to be pretending our kids aren't at risk from raging male paedophiles". I've lived in a few countries. The paedo awareness/fear of paedos thing whether societally or institutionally/legally is very, very strong in the UK – probably the strongest of all in the UK.

Because realistically, most teens are raging with hormones and not likely to wait until they are 18 to have sex. When I was at school, most people were doing it at 13 or 14.

Alcohol is different because you can stop them buying it. You can't stop them having sex.

The fact that you can have sex at 16 but now not get married until you are 18 is crazy, both need to be equal age. I know it was changed mainly to stop arranged marriages but in reality you could have a baby at 16 but not able to marry the father until you are 18 feels very wrong.

I'd support this. I have friends who were legally abused by older adults at 16 and 18.

I agree!! They have no choice but to be in education until 18 but then have to pay full price! Really annoys me too

Until very recently you could marry at 16. I think you still can in Scotland, I'm sure someone will come across soon to confirm / deny.

The victorians raised it from 13 to 16.

@HermioneWeasley in some US states they have 'Romeo and Juliet' laws. So underage sex with someone your own age or close to is not a criminal act.

But getting married is a far bigger step than having sex. In the UK, marriage is legally enshrined, which requires proof of id and age.

This is not required to have sex with someone (thank goodness).

The very rare baby at 16 but can’t marry scenario is a tiny example when compared to the majority. And even then is there any advantage in a 16/18 marriage, even with a baby. Surely the arranged marriage danger is significantly higher.

Consent to sex at 16 ties in with medical consent, which is also 16, but can be younger if the person is Gillick competent.

If your 16 year old gets appendicitis for example, they will be cared for on an adult ward with restricted visiting hours, as I discovered recently. The allowance for parents to stay stops abruptly at 16.