By "competent", do you mean "Gillick competency"?
This seems to have been a source of confusion amongst some HCPs, ie. with them thinking that if they deem a child competent to consent to treatment (contraception or abortion) then the child must be consenting to sex.
"Sweeping the fact that large numbers of this age group are sexually active would regress women's rights back several decades."
These are children so surely this is an issue of the rights of the child rather than women's rights?
One of the reasons that CSE victims have been failed so badly for decades by the state is that HCPs and other professionals have viewed them as adults making "lifestyle choices" rather than as children being raped. This attitude extended to even younger children, with 11 and 12 year olds being described as "sexually active" rather than being recognised as rape victims.
Independent Inquiry: Telford Child Sexual Exploitation
Volume 1:
"Victims and survivors were also critical about how easy it can be to obtain emergency contraception or abortion services without appropriate questions being asked. Concern was raised that these services can be obtained from a range of providers (sexual health clinics, GPs and pharmacies) without any questions being raised of familiar faces."
"one survivor witness who suffered exploitation in the 1990s said that she repeatedly visited the same GP practice for the morning after pill. No one ever asked any questions about her age or why she needed the morning after pill; the witness said it felt like no one really cared. She was 14 years old.
I have frequently heard evidence from witnesses that during the early part of my Terms of Reference, medical support was sought by under-aged children for abortions and sexually transmitted infections from GPs and sexual health clinics and no questions were asked."
Volume 1:
https://www.telford.gov.uk/media/ivsjb1k2/iitcseplusreportplus-plusvolumeplusone.pdf
Volume 4
page 1054 - 1070
Case Study – Rebecca (“Becky”) Watson (1999 to 2002)
8.69 The case of Becky Watson is another that has received media attention in the past, following her death in a road traffic incident in 2002. She was 13 years of age at the time of her death. The driver of the car pleaded guilty to causing her death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. More than a decade after Becky’s death, and in the wake of disclosures made by other victims in Operation Chalice, WMP carried out a review of Becky’s death, with a view to confirming whether or not there was evidence that Becky had been subjected to CSE during her short life. Those findings are discussed below, and, as a result, I find that Becky’s case is also a crucial one to be considered by this Inquiry as a case study.
8.71 Becky had a stable home environment without any engagement with agencies until she started secondary school in 2000, at which time Becky’s mother noticed that she was mixing with an older group of girls and beginning to exhibit challenging behaviours, such as testing boundaries and staying out later than agreed.49 At the same time, Becky was confronted by a teacher at school who asked if she was sexually active. Becky was 11 years of age . . . "
page 1071 - 1075
Case Study - Child C (early 2000s onwards)
Age 13: "Child C attended her GP surgery to request the contraceptive pill."
Age 14: "Approximately a year later Child C attended her GP surgery and the same request was made. Again, given her age, a referral to Safeguarding should have been considered; it is unclear from the evidence whether this happened."
7.103 The journey to understanding clearly how and when information should be shared has therefore not been straightforward. That journey has also been impacted by the introduction of legislation that has sought to protect personal data (the Data Protection Act 1998, and latterly, the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018), creating an even more complex picture of when information should be protected, and there being serious implications if it is not. The evidence I have heard is that throughout this period there has been an increased level of nervousness and confusion on the part of some health professionals about the sharing of information and when it can be done.
7.104 Therefore, there is a complex decision mapping around the sharing of information: the clinician must listen to see whether they can obtain informed consent, judge that response, judge if the individual has the ability to consent (Gillick competency) and then decide with whom it needs to be shared, for example a sexual abuse therapist, a mental health worker, a parent/social worker. The clinician will need to decide who best to share the information with and to decide what level of information to give them so that the information sharing is reasonable and proportionate. I accept that these are difficult decisions for a clinician to be taking, in a context where there is already anxiety around sharing personal data.
8.152 Child C’s GP was also aware that Child C was sexually active as she attended the surgery twice for the contraceptive pill in two years, in her early teenage years. If Child C was considered Gillick competent and there were no other indicators of vulnerability or concern, the GP may not have felt there was any basis to make a referral to the Council’s Safeguarding team.
Volume 4:
https://www.telford.gov.uk/media/tekboktg/iitcseplusreportplus-plusvolumeplusfour.pdf
It is worrying that unintended consequences of the proposed change to the law for children aged 13 - 15 could include an increase in unwanted pregnancies and STIs.
On the other hand, while various campaigning groups were unsuccessful in getting the age of consent lowered to 14 in the 1970's we effectively have age of consent at 13 right now.(PIE wanted it even lower) with a significant proportion of children needing access to sexual health services, although this has apparently decreased substantially since 2002:
KEY DATA 2021
Sexual health and identity
The Health Behaviour in School Aged Children national surveys also ask questions about sexual behaviour. In the most recent 2018 surveys in England and Scotland, 20% of 15 year olds said they had experienced sexual intercourse (Brooks et al, 2020; Inchley et al 2020). The English report noted that the number of young people who said that they have had sexual intercourse had decreased substantially since 2002 among both boys and girls. Similarly, the proportion of young people who report very early onset of sexual intercourse (age 12 years or younger) had decreased across the same period (Brooks et al, 2020).
https://ayph-youthhealthdata.org.uk/key-data/sexual-health-and-identity/sexual-activity/
HBSC England National Report Findings from the 2021-2022 HBSC study for England
Nov 2023
15 YEAR OLDS WHO REPORTED HAVING HAD SEXUAL INTERCOURSE, 2002-2022
Overall, 21% of 15 year old respondents reported having had sexual intercourse; 21% of boys and 22% of girls. The proportion of 15 year olds reporting having had sexual intercourse increased for girls (18% to 22%) and slightly decreased for boys (23% to 21%) between 2018 and 2022, practically eliminating the gender differences observed in previous years (Figure 2.51).
15 YEAR OLDS REPORTING AGE OF ONSET FOR SEXUAL INTERCOURSE
77% of those 15 year olds who had ever had sexual intercourse reported having had their first sexual intercourse at age 14 or older. Boys were more likely to report the early onset of sexual activity; 13% of boys compared with 6% of girls reported their first sexual intercourse was at 12 years or younger (Figure 2.52)
https://hbscengland.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2022_FULL_REPORT_final_02.12.24-2.pdf