Age of consent to be raised after recent high profile cases of older men preying on 16 year old girls

A staggered age of consent seems like a good idea to me. Well done for this female to come forward with this suggestion in all the circumstances.

She said "I don't want to criminalise teenagers having sex with each other. If you're between the ages of 16 and 18, it seems reasonable that you can have relationships with each other, and [teenagers] are always going to. But...if you're in your thirties, forties and fifties and you're trying to have a relationship with someone under the age of 18, it [should be] a criminal offence."

This I agree with. A 16 year old is a child in the eyes of the law. Older adults in their 30s or 40s can have relationships with young adults- ie over 18, no need to prey on 16 to 17 year olds.

Sorry, much I’vecwritten is a repeat of other posters’ views.

Of course underage ‘kida’ will experiment with both but it will give young people the knowledge they can say No to sex , and be protected by law, until they are over 18
especially in a situation where they may be being groomed by someone older.

An argument put forward on TV discussion was that a young person needs to be 18 to legally drink alcohol,
but currently is considered old enough at 16 to consent to sex. For pretty much everything else they are still considered to be a child at 16.

Sorry just realised I have said the same as everyone else!

Do they mean graduated age of consent? So two 17 year olds wouldnt be prosecuted but a 30 year old and 16 year old would be. I think I would agree with that. I would be interested in how it works in other countries.

Yes the idea is to make it illegal for older adults to have sex with children up to the age of 18 I think.

It seems a good idea to me at the moment, but I’d like to see the arguments.