Anger over the alleged behaviour of older celebrities with young women has opened up a new debate over the effectiveness of the age of consent.
Since 1885, the age at which people can legally consent to having sex in the UK has been set at 16.
If two people are older than that, it’s completely legal for them to consensually have sex – no matter how wide their age gap might be.
But following allegations against Russell Brand, some people have voiced their unease at the current law.
Today, the issue was raised in the Sunday Times by a woman who accuses Brand of raping her when she was 16 and he was 30.
In response, de facto Deputy Prime Minister Louise Haigh said the idea of a staggered age of consent deserves ‘proper consideration and scrutiny’.
But what would such an approach mean?
There is already an element of ‘staggering’ in the law around the age of consent, though it concerns the classification of criminal offences.
Having sex with someone under the age of 12 is automatically considered rape, but in cases concerning those aged 13, 14 and 15 it is classed as ‘sexual activity with a child’ unless lack of consent is proven.
The UK government has committed to changing the law in England and Wales so having sex with anyone under 16 is classed as rape, following a recommendation from Baroness Louise Casey’s grooming gangs review.
However, a staggered approach to the age of consent itself would mean something different entirely.
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In several places around the world, the age of consent changes according to a range of circumstances.
For example, it is set at 18 years old in Florida – unless the other person is aged under 24, in which case it is 16.
Other places have laws based on the age gap, such as Canada where 14 and 15-year-olds can consent to having sex if the other person is less than five years older.
In Italy, the same applies, but the age gap is set more narrowly at three years.
If a similar system is to be introduced in the UK, such details would still need to be worked out, and Haigh did not indicate support for a particular approach in her comments to the Sunday Times.
But new campaign group Close the Consent Gap argues that it should be a crime for people aged 20 or above to have sex with 16 or 17-year-olds, with the age gap set at three years.
Speaking on Sky News this morning, Welfare Secretary Pat McFadden said reforming the age of consent is ‘certainly something ministers will talk about’.
He added: ‘We probably will consider it but I cannot give you a result of that at the moment.’
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