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.

The law recently changed to 18.

www.gov.uk/government/news/legal-age-of-marriage-in-england-and-wales-rises-to-18#:~:text=It%20is%20now%20an%20offence,the%20parties%20and%20their%20families.

I'd support the age of consent being raised. Might put off some perves. Honestly a man in his thirties targeting a 16 y.o makes me want to vomit. They're still girls.

Really? The average age is 14? I find that hard to believe.

I am proposing a legal age of ‘consent’ is raised to 18 to protect girls from the situation we find ourselves in, in the UK today. How many posters have argued “but they are 16” We are not going after teenage dalliances and consensual experiences. It would be a reasonable expectation that such experiences is something that would never progress to a court or criminal situation. It baffles me how this is hard to understand. It is about predators and vulnerable teenage girls/children.

*are

I was 18 and very mentally vulnerable when i was groomed and abused by a 21 year old.
Raising the age of consent won't stop predators finding those who are vulnerable to be abused.

AlmostAJillSandwich · Today 01:12

I was 18 and very mentally vulnerable when i was groomed and abused by a 21 year old.
Raising the age of consent won't stop predators finding those who are vulnerable to be abused.

Just awful that you had that horrendous experience. I hear what you are saying. You will never stop predators and they can strike at any age. Personally, I’d like to push for 21 (many studies support the fact that the brain is still not fully developed as an adult) however if we can at least try and protect children until 18 under legislation we might have a fighting chance of upping it from 16. I agree with you, it will never be enough ❤️

I think this kind of thing is the right direction. At 14/15/16 I had a lovely boyfriend (same age as me) lots of experimentation but all very teenage and we were both very young and naive and actually quite aware of that. At 17 I was in a relationship with someone who was 27, toxicly awful, total power imbalance, had an awful effect on me for a long time. I was in no way equipped to deal with an emotionally and sexually abusive man and it took me a long time to see it for what it was.

It shouldn't be black and white, all or nothing. No sex until 18 then fine with any adult. It should be staged laws, so at 15 you can have sex with others under 18, then 17/19 maybe. It's only a better idea to me than saying no one under 18 should be allowed to grow up like most teens have

I would support Romeo and Juliet laws until both parties are over 18, for example two years between up to 19 so a 15 and 17 year old or 17 and 19 year old would be fine.

I was 17 when I slept with a couple of people in their late 20s and 18 when I dated two 35 year olds (one after the other and one of those was for a couple of years). I was over the age of consent and a legal adult but the power imbalance was huge (although I didn't recognise it at the time). I think legal age of consent is only a small part of how you address the risk of exploitative relationships.

@MrsTerryPratchett i can't find the link and further searches seem to suggest 16-17.

Well, that seems far more accurate.

People aren't confusing the issue, they are discussing what you have said which is that the age of consent should be raised to 18. Posters have fairly pointed out that if the state did that there would be a lot of teenagers being criminalised. Posters have also pointed out a more nuanced approach is therefore needed e.g. romeo & juliet laws. Yes girls need to be protected from predators but yours is too simplistic an approach to work.

16 year olds are absolutely capable of consenting to sex. You are conflating different issues. You don't protect girls by removing their agency. It's ridiculous to think that a 16 year old can drive a car and leave home but it should be illegal for them to have sex.
16 Year olds are already considered minors when it comes to sexual exploitation. You cannot be considered a 16 year old sex worker for example, it would be considered child sex trafficking. 16 year olds now cannot consent to be in pyrography etc.
But they can consent to have sex which is understandable as this is a very common age for people to start having sex.. which is why the law was set at that age.
If you look at places where the age of consent is 18 it does absolutely nothing to protect girls in fact stunningly places in the world where the age of consent is 18 have higher rates of teen pregnancy and even child marriage. Because often it goes hand in hand with religious fundamentalism and puritanism.
You can't pretend 16 year olds aren't reaching sexual maturity and wanting to have sex. Obviously teens are at greater risk of exploitation but pretending they are little children isn't going to help. Education is what's going to help. Listening to and believing victims is what's going to help. Changing our culture which protects predatory males is what's going to help.

So you want to infantilize adults now. What on earth do you think is inherently wrong with a 20 year old and a 22 year having sex? Do you also want to ban under 21s from driving, getting married, working full time, living by themselves, drinking etc?

I mean I'd left home and was living independently and working full time at 16. Not ideal but this is reality for lots of people. It doesn't offer protection to people to be criminalised for perfectly natural behaviour. You are using personal ideals to decide on law when the law should be based on how best to protect people in reality. And the reality is that many 16 year olds do start having sex at that age. Not because that's what the law says but because that is an age where their bodies are often reaching that point.
There are other better ways to go about genuinely protecting young people from exploitation. Raising the age of consent is too simplified and doesn't really add up with reality. It will only unnecessarily criminalise people.

@Scienceadvisory I think it was one of Jenni Murray's final Woman's Hour shows where I thought she was going to explode on air.
A university lecturer was trying to divert her students from using sex work to pay their way through their course because she felt they lacked the maturity to understand how it might compromise them in later life.
Simultaneously, another interviewee was arguing that 10 year-olds were capable of making life-changing decisions regarding puberty-blockers and gender reassignment surgery.
Perhaps ages of consent are straightforward, if we raise them differently - though I suspect that's more easily done in more homogenous societies with a larger number of shared values.

I think legal age of consent is only a small part of how you address the risk of exploitative relationships.

@ChopSuey2 It’s definitely only part of how you address the risk, it’s just a simple legal deterrent, tbh.
Personally, I think that parental guidance is a big part of ensuring that people aren’t exploited (there’s no guarantees, of course).

I had more than one friend who lied about their age to obtain older men - not massively older, just two or three years.
I just think they’ll find a way if that’s what they want.

I’ve always thought that Romeo and Juliet laws are a good idea for young people. Personally I think a good compromise between Safeguarding and freedom for sexual exploration would be the following

A 14 year old can consent with another person aged 14-16
A 15 year old can consent with another person aged 14-17
A 16 year old can consent with another person aged 14-20
A 17 year old can consent with another person aged 15-20
Any 18/19/20 year old can consent with another person aged 16+
Anyone 21+ old can only consent with another person aged 18+

This isn’t perfect, but would give young people a lot more protection of exploitation without prosecuting horny teens.

I think it’s fine as it is.

Readytoplay · Today 07:46

I’ve always thought that Romeo and Juliet laws are a good idea for young people. Personally I think a good compromise between Safeguarding and freedom for sexual exploration would be the following

A 14 year old can consent with another person aged 14-16
A 15 year old can consent with another person aged 14-17
A 16 year old can consent with another person aged 14-20
A 17 year old can consent with another person aged 15-20
Any 18/19/20 year old can consent with another person aged 16+
Anyone 21+ old can only consent with another person aged 18+

This isn’t perfect, but would give young people a lot more protection of exploitation without prosecuting horny teens.

Sounds like a reasonable approach.

The age of consent when the girl is 16 and boy 17 or 18 isn't a problem.

The problem arises when the girl or boy is 16 and the partner is older, much older in some circumstances so 16 and 32 etc

So could it be made illegal for anyone under 18, having sex with anyone over 18 or 20?

Needanewnamebeingwatched · Today 07:51

The age of consent when the girl is 16 and boy 17 or 18 isn't a problem.

The problem arises when the girl or boy is 16 and the partner is older, much older in some circumstances so 16 and 32 etc

So could it be made illegal for anyone under 18, having sex with anyone over 18 or 20?

Exactly this.

The age of consent should be 18. The age of consent is not about criminalising sex between similarly aged young people, it’s there to protect children from predatory adults. The current age of consent is not used to criminalise consensual sexual activity between 14 and 15 year olds.

It clearly confuses the hell out of people that 16 year olds are above the age of consent despite legally being children.