Prime Minister Will Not Lower The Age of Consent To 15

Correspondent (Europe)

LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected the case for lowering the age of consent for sex to 15 years of age from a leading expert on public health. Faculty of Public Health president Professor John Ashton believes a national debate needs to be called on the topic. He said, “We need a debate here. It’s time the adults started talking about the situation to take these enormous pressures off children and young people from becoming sexually active too early.”

Professor Ashton has stated that society needs to accept that around a third of adolescents are having sex at 14 or 15. According to him, countries with lower ages of consent see less teenage pregnancies and teenagers having sex at a later age. He also believes that if the age of consent was lowered, it would make it easier for teachers and other people who work with young people “feel on a firmer footing” about giving them advice on contraception and sexual health. “Also to recognise the facts of what’s going on by the age of 14 or 15 so that we can respond helpfully to them and support them on this journey into adult life.”

“At the moment youngsters are getting the most incredible messages from pornography, from social media. What we are seeing is more physical abuse and mental abuse in relationships.” Downing Street has said that the age of consent was 16 to protect children and there are “no plans to change it.”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg agrees with Downing Street and thinks that the age of consent should remain at 16. Still he said, “This health expert is right in saying there is a problem – we have far too high levels of teenage pregnancy. I am worried, like everybody is worried, about the sexualisation, the culture and the information so many young people are bombarded with. That is why I am constantly urging Michael Gove to update and modernise sex education in schools, which has not kept up with the internet age.”

Liz Dux, a lawyer representing seventy-two of the victims of Jimmy Saville provides another perspective to the argument. She said, “Predatory adults would be given legitimacy to focus their attentions on even younger teenagers and there is a real risk that society would be sending out the message that sex between 14- to 15-year olds is also acceptable.”

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