To think we should up the age of consent to 18?

[whatnet]

I just have this utterly sick feeling about the constant narrative pushed in the UK about a CHILD being ‘16’ and therefore, “what is your problem?”… “it’s ‘legal’” I am so sick of the exploitation of our girls in this country. Our CHILDREN. Our future. Who do not have a voice, because they are children. They need to be protected. I will pre empt some of your arguments. The UK government has classified the violence against Women and Girls as a “National Threat”

https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/tackling-violence-against-women-and-girls-in-the-uk/

A 16 year old girl is a child and should be protected as a child, by law.

Well quite, but it is natural to have sexual feelings 2 years after periods start and possibly want to explore. Best if they wait and other factors like socialisation are obviously relevant.

I disagree. I don't think I had sexual feelings until I was about 18

@Mooshamoo well, that settles it, since you are clearly the template for what is normal for a human being. Everyone who has sexual feelings before 18 must have something wrong with them.

FFS.

I disagree too. I started mine at 11. How would a 13 year old be able to suss out or protect herself from hormonal boys?

Its the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard. Some girks start at 9. Should they be having a shag fest at 11?

I was brought up in France. Back in my teens, my hormones were bubbling. I was quiet, you could say “bookish” . No wild child, but l wanted to have sex. Legislation was the last thing on my mind. Changing law is complex, requires parliamentary debate and scrutiny. What’s more it would be unlikely to achieve anything.

Mum was annoyed when she first found out l was having sex (that was about 30 years ago), not that l was having sex but that l hadn’t confided in her. I had a lovely supportive mum who my friends often turned to. Not everybody was so fortunate. She always told sister and l, if something is not making you feel nice, stop doing it.

She said it's natural for people to have sexual feelings two years after periods start.

She was generalising and saying that everyone feels like that.

I personally disagreed.

Yet you say that I am the one speaking for everyone, ok.

I feel like when I was 14, 15. We were all just kissing boys.

Everyone I knew would have been way too afraid of falling pregnant to do more than that.

You can't get married at 16 . The law has changed it's 18 now .

Most teens are sexually active. I honestly don't think raising the age of consent will help. Teens will still do what they want to do. When my sister turned 16, she got a full time job and moved in with her boyfriend. We all viewed her as an adult, as she had responsibilities and lived independently from us.

It’s still 16 in Scotland and N Ireland.

I remember thinking when they brought the age of homosexual sex down to 16 that they should have gone the other way and put heterosexual sex up to 18. Add a romeo and juliet clause for teenagers of similar ages. Therefore the age of consent remains the same but children are protected from adults.

Age of consent is 17 in ireland

It varies throughout Europe.

Is england one of the lowest?

I don’t reckon this checks out. What’s the source?

I was interested in sex for years before my periods started.

And lots of kids start kissing / getting off with each other at pre teen ages. When I was at school in the 90s it was like 11, although obviously it was some years before people started progressing to sex.

@Mooshamoo - Not at all! In France, where l was brought up (UK parents though, and regularly flitted between the 2, which raises an interesting issue) it’s 15. In Germany, 14.

No, pp said it was natural to have sexual feelings a couple of years after the start of periods. Not that everyone did. Your comment implied that because you didn't have those feelings, it was therefore not natural.

FWIW I started my periods at 15. I absolutely was having sexual feelings by 17.

Nope. The UK is middle of the pack with lots of other countries. Only three countries have an age of consent set at 18. One of those is Vatican City, which is an example we don't want to follow.

And a low age of consent does not equate to a low age of first intercourse. I'm from the Netherlands, age of consent 16 just as it is here. Average age of first intercourse is 18.5. In the UK, same age of consent, it's 16 - 17.

I wonder who has lowest/highest age of consent in Europe. I'm going to go look it up

I feel like most people I know didn't have sex until college , which was aged 18-22.

However we are all probably influenced by the society we grew up in as well.

I grew up in rural Ireland, where - if you had sex with anyone, everyone would know about it, and you definitely didnt want to be seen as a "slut. " there was a lot of pressure to not be "slutty" so I didn't have sex at a young age.

If I grew up in a bigger more anonymous city, I may have had sex at a younger age

We are probably at the higher end in Europe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_consent

Vatican CIty is one of the three highest at 18. There's nothing higher. Lowest is 14.

But as I've said, age of consent and age of first sexual experience are nowhere near the same thing. A lot of it comes from the culture you grow up in.

From personal experience, l think very few girls were concerned about what the law said when they first had sex.

What was important was safe sex, no coercion and mutual respect and sharing. No law can commit to that, but sex positive education can help. And no double female/male standards.

Just reading that.

Wow I didn't know that the age of consent was 14 in Germany and austria

It’s 16 in Scotland, that’s why people used to elope to Gretna Green.