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.

I think the age of consent should be increased to 18. This would make it more difficult for adults to abuse 16-17 year olds (and easier to prosecute them if they did), and more difficult for people to make 'mistakes' with 14/15 year olds who look like they're 16. It would reduce the number of 16/17 year old girls who have do deal with the consequences of pregnancy.

Increasing the age of consent would also reduce the pressure on teenagers to become sexually active earlier than they might otherwise choose to do so. I wouldn't want to see 16-17 year old teenagers prosecuted if they did choose to become sexually active with people of their own age, however I think we should discourage this through better education.

I'm really interested about that stat- do you know where it came from? Barring a few mostly everyone I know was at uni when they lost their virginity or even later for some. There just was not the opportunity to have a relationship before then given school commitments and parental boundaries.

This is currently being changed to 18.

Medical consent. (DD was quite proud of taking herself to the covid booster walk-in.)

Exactly.
I found it very easy to not have sex at 16, we're not animals are we?

Except people want 16 year olds to vote....... So the proposal is you can decide on who runs the country but not who you have sex with?

But l think 16 year olds can make informed decisions about politics.

Informed decisions about sexual partners: less so.

I think it should be increased to 18. It made more sense to be 16 at a time when people worked at 16. We’ve extended adolescence with the need to be in education till 18.
you can’t drive a car, buy cigarettes etc, yet can legally make a baby.

also mixed messages to teens. under 18s are considered vulnerable these days. ive heard of more than one case of a girl sending a boy photos, him showing a friend and the police turning up on his parents doorstep.

Or is it a case that 16 year olds are more likely to be left wing and liberal and vote the way "they are supposed to"

I think something like this would be ideal.

Yes agree, it absolutely needs to be raised to 18, with some kind of Romeo and Juliet Law in place. I believe many states in the US have this in place, which makes an exception for underage sex between two parties where the age difference is small.

There's a HUGE difference IMO between a 15- or 16-year-old girl agreeing to sex with a boyfriend of roughly the same age, and the kind of exploitative, predatory relationship between a 30 year old and 16 year old. Though of course there will be exceptions.

But either way, the law needs refinement. The current law around age of consent has been around since the late 1800s and is just not fit for purpose.

Let's not forget that society's thinking about power balance and agency in a romantic/sexual relationship has moved on massively since the late 1800s. Back then, women had no voice behind closed doors and what we would now call predatory relationships were entirely normal.

I think this would be very difficult to police- Isn’t it easier to raise the age of consent to 18 but like with anything the police would use discretion when both parties are between 16 and 18 as clearly both are ‘guilty’. The police can come down hard though when one party is in an exploitative position and older?

I was propositioned by a married man at the age of 16 (still at school)

I knew him and also knew his wife was pregnant (dirty bastard), and he knew I had a boyfriend. In fact he only knew me because of my boyfriend. Even at that young age I knew what he was suggesting was wrong on so many levels. So for all those people out there that says 16 is too young for sex I disagree. We all mature differently, you could argue some 20 year olds aren’t ready due to lack of maturity.

I think that the law should be 16 for having sex, but there should be peer rules in place til 20, so an age gap of more than 3 or 4 years should be illegal.

I remember my 16 year old friend dating a 29 year old while we were at school. It felt so wrong and the power dynamics were completely fucked but she wouldn't hear it at all.

You aren't going to stop 16 & 17 year olds experimenting with each other and I don't think you should.

Something like the Romeo & Juliet Law sounds sensible.

I think that a Romeo and Juliet clause should be created for 15-17 year olds.
Two 15 year olds having sex is very different to a 16 and 30 year old.
Problem is, is it likely to be enforced? Based on the state of our police and children's services today, I would guess no.

How so? No matter what the law says, police will have to verify ages anyway.

If there is a Romeo and Juliet law then it is much easier for the police, law enforcement, to be consistent in their policing.

If it’s just ‘age of consent is 18’ and everyone under 18 is breaking the law, the police don’t have a legal basis to ignore it/look the other way. They will also be inconsistent in how they police. The police are not supposed to have discretion, they are suppose to enforce the law.

You run into the usual discriminatory issues when the law is badly written leaving gaps for the police to then “use discretion.”

Are you seriously suggesting that a 21-year-old young woman can't have a 26-year-old boyfriend?
Is this right, if so you are being utterly ludicrous.
Bat shit crazy suggestion.

i don’t understand this - so at 15 I could sleep with my 17 year old boyfriend but then he turns 18 and I turn 16 and I can’t then sleep with him for another 2 years legally? Which country is this?

This is what we should have. It's disgusting that a 30 year old man could sleep with a 16 year old.

No one's waiting. It's about them not being able to sleep with adults. Under 16s are having sex anyway, PRESUMABLY with each other. No grown ass man should be able to legally sleep with an under 18.

I came to say something similar.

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

"Is a child" when they can vote in Scots Indyrefs? So I don't think so.

Also do you really mean that 16 year old boys just have to take their chance OP?

Surely if 2 14 or 15 year olds are caught now they aren’t prosecuted are they? But a 19 year old with a 14 year old would be. I’m just suggesting that it is raised to 18 rather than 16 so that discretion is taken into account. By raising the age and building in discretion It would take into account a 16 year old who coerces a similar aged child (who technically consents) which would not be caught with a Romeo and Juliet style law.

So a 20-year-old man shouldn't be able to have sex with a 17-year-old?
This is ludicrous.

I think a RB is seedy as hell if as a 30-something man he seduced a 16-year-old but some of these suggestions are ludicrous.