Should the age of consent be raised to 18

[mids2019]

I have never really thought deeply about consent laws in England until my daughter's reached their teenage years and to my (maybe old) mind 16 seems too young for consent. I know the age is probably chosen woman at arbitrarily to balance protection against the reality of teenagers and young people engaging in sexual contact but to my mind it seems strange that a 35 year old male would be quite rightly criminalized for having sex with a 15 year old but that protection suddenly stops at 16.

At 16 in the way of the law you are a child so what protections are offered for 16-18 year old girls in this regard. There are laws about sexual exploitation but are they sufficnet? To my mind the 16 figure is planting an idea of maturity in some young people that some simply don't have. I know children get plenty of sex education but it you still have the age of 16 for legal consent then does this give a kind of legitimacy for older men to hit on under 18 year olds?

I ‘d agree , I’m in Scotland where you can get married at 16 too. There aren’t many girls getting married under 18 but it’s often girls from traveller communities or BAME backgrounds.

I think raising consent to 18 with a Romeo and Juliet clause. I’d like to see better policing of existing consent laws too. I think girls in the 13-15 bracket (especially those in care) are often labelled problematic and making poor choices when in reality they are being abused by older men who are feeding them drink / drugs.

It’s almost impossible to secure a rape conviction unless you are “the perfect victim”. I’d have it as a strict liability crime and any man (or woman) over the age of 18 having sex with a girl (or boy) under 16 would be committing an offence in the same way it’s considered if the child is under 13 without the wishy washy we’d never get a conviction so not worth pursuing police/ cps/ social services unofficial position currently.

I'd be in favour of a close age gap clause.
Not criminilising young people for completely normal behaviours.

I don't really see a huge danger in enthusiastically consensual sex between willing partners in general, but I think there needs to be more protection against grooming and exploitation of young women by older men.

Exactly. The law doesn't make sense.

A 16 year old is a child under law and should be given the protection children are entitled to.

Sex is between consenting adults but as the law stands there is by definition a child in the consent defintion.

@mids2019

I agree it's either 16 or 18. I don't think anyone wants children vaping and drinking at 16, so 18, for everything, just makes perfect sense. To me is exposes decision making in silo's across government and a lack of a joined-up approach.

@Minutemaids that rule on sex toys is mad. I mean, what would you prefer: that your child had fun with themselves and a toy, or that they went out and had actual sex with someone? I'd favour dropping the age for sex toys to 16.

@pointythings

It's not an actual law, but most retailers abide by 18. I agree that if a sex toy can help teens explore their bodies rather than sex with the risks of pregnancy and emotional maturity, then surely it is a good thing.