Law Professor John Spencer calls for age of consent to be lowered to 13

**misrule** · September 23rd, 2009, 07:03 AM

Law Professor John Spencer calls for age of consent to be lowered to 13

A NATIONAL radio program is to feature a call for the age of consent to be lowered to the age of 13.

Law professor John Spencer will argue that the current age of consent, fixed at 16, criminalises "half the population".

His controversial views will be debated on the BBC Radio 4 program Iconoclasts tomorrow evening.

In a preview of the live program, BBC programme makers said that the Cambridge University academic will argue that it should be "legal" for young teenagers to have sex.

He says the age of consent, fixed at 16 by Britain's Sexual Offences Act 2003, makes "criminals of half the population".

Last night MPs said it was "ludicrous" to consider lowering the age of consent at a time when teenage pregnancy rates are still soaring in UK.

About 30 per cent of young women in Australia become pregnant in their teenage years (mostly in their late teenage years) and about 50 per cent of them terminate of the pregnancy.
The rate of teenage pregnanices in the UK far exceeds that in Australia. In 1992, 1612 teenagers aged 16 and under became pregnant in Australia.

The latest figures in England and Wales show that 42,900 under-18s and 8,200 under16s became pregnant in 2007, with most of the pregnancies ending in abortion. The Government's controversial teenage pregnancy strategy, which has cost taxpayers more than £300million, was meant to halve the number of conceptions among girls under 18 in England between 1998 and 2010, but teenage pregnancy rates are now higher than they were in 1995.

Professor Spencer, who will set out his views before being challenged by a panel of experts, was unavailable today. But he has previously argued that the current laws surrounding the age of consent are "deeply unsatisfactory".

He is expected to argue that laws are heavy-handed and unenforceable with severe penalties for "minor offences".

Tory MP David Davies said: "It is vital that the law protects vulnerable young people from exploitation by adults.

"There are already far too many young people having underage sex and we have a terrible record for teenage pregnancies."

Fellow Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe said: "The proposition that the age of consent should be lowered is absolutely appalling. The situation is bad enough at the moment with high rates of teenage pregnancies and sexual diseases.

"I don't detect a great deal of public support for this. If there was, I would argue that it should be debated. I can only assume the BBC is trying to create the debate."

Senior police officers have also sparked controversy by calling for the age of consent to be reduced to as young as 13. Two years ago, Chief Superintendent Clive Murray argued that the law does not distinguish between sexual abuse and "youthful natural instinct".

In 2006 Terry Grange, former chief constable of Dyfed-Powys Police, claimed that men as old as 30 who have sex with underage girls should not necessarily be classed as paedophiles.

European countries including Austria, Bulgaria and Croatia set the age of consent at 14. It is 13 in Spain.

A BBC spokesman defended the decision to broadcast Professor Spencer's views and insisted the topic would be dealt with in a "sensitive manner".

He said: "Iconoclasts is a live discussion program, in which a controversial viewpoint from an individual who has professional credibility in his or her field is discussed, explored in detail and robustly challenged by panellists.

"The program does not advocate the issue, but is a platform for an individual viewpoint and a starting point for serious debate."

Call for sex at 13 to be legal | The Daily Telegraph

hmmm....Sensationalist, yes. Seems like it'd open up a whole can of worms for exploitation, some girls are barely hitting puberty at 13. I don't know a lot of 13yr olds that would be mature enough to be making those decisions. Just because there's more of them doing it is no excuse to change the law. There definitely needs to be more, and earlier education on safe sex and the like though.
And i'm no prude, but i'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of a 30yr old guy sleeping with a 13yr old girl...
or am I just getting old, and out of touch?

**McJag** · September 23rd, 2009, 07:08 AM

He must be a pedo.

**katerpillar** · September 23rd, 2009, 07:31 AM

Why does Australia come up in this article?! The way it's just been randomly thrown in is like we're an example of where the age of consent 13 or something. It is 16 in most states here (17 in Tasmania and my state, though... *cough*)!

Also, no. The point is, underage teens having sex with each other aren't actually prosecuted. The cops and courts have much more important things to spend their time and resources on. It's the much older predators who exploit the underage teens who are "criminalised". Which is exactly how it should be! A kid in 7th Grade is not capable of consenting to sex with a 30-year-old, FFS.

What the under-researched article fails to mention is that in Austria, although the age of consent is 14, it's illegal to have sex with someone under 16 by "exploiting their lack of maturity" - so if you're 28 and shag a 14-year-old, you're going to jail. In Spain the age of consent is only 13 if both kids are 16 or less.

**misrule** · September 23rd, 2009, 07:47 AM

Originally Posted by katerpillar

Why does Australia come up in this article?! The way it's just been randomly thrown in is like we're an example of where the age of consent 13 or something. It is 16 in most states here (17 in Tasmania and my state, though... *cough*)!

Well, it is from the Telegraph. It's practically a tabloid, really. It also doesn't mention that even though the UK has a higher rate of teen pregnancy, it also has a much larger population, but i'm too lazy to do the maths to work out the percentages this time of night.

I just think it's weird that it would be acceptable for a grown adult to be able to argue this point in a public forum, when commonsense would surely indicate there was something a little off about his ideas...

**Sarzy** · September 23rd, 2009, 08:02 AM

No it shouldn't be lowered, IMO. I think 16 is a good age for it to be.

**celeb_2006** · September 23rd, 2009, 10:13 AM

Originally Posted by Sarzy

No it shouldn't be lowered, IMO. I think 16 is a good age for it to be.

Yes, and as in example above, the difference in age is to be considered too.

Sickening that one MP thinks age 30 with a 14 shouldn't be criminalized. I'm thinking anyone that wants to lower the limit are in fact closet pedos.

In no universe should it be tolerated, not in the Middle East 'clans' and not in western countries.

Sick.

**sputnik** · September 23rd, 2009, 10:33 AM

uh, paedophiles are into pre-pubescents. last time i checked, 13 and 14 were pubescent teenagers.
and no, that doesn't mean i think it should be legal for them to sleep with 30 year-olds, i'm just saying the word paedophile is beginning to lose its real meaning from people using it so casually without stopping to think about the real meaning.

i'm also not sure that the legal age of consent has anything to do with teenage pregnancy rates. that has more to do with sex education and a whole bunch of social factors that lead to teenagers being careless and fucking retarded enough to think having babies at such a young age is a good idea. teenagers have just as much sex in europe, including countries where age of consent is lower than in the UK, and yet their teen pregnancy rates are much, much lower.

**crumpet** · September 23rd, 2009, 12:43 PM

Originally Posted by sputnik

uh, paedophiles are into pre-pubescents. last time i checked, 13 and 14 were pubescent teenagers.
and no, that doesn't mean i think it should be legal for them to sleep with 30 year-olds, i'm just saying the word paedophile is beginning to lose its real meaning from people using it so casually without stopping to think about the real meaning.

i'm also not sure that the legal age of consent has anything to do with teenage pregnancy rates. that has more to do with sex education and a whole bunch of social factors that lead to teenagers being careless and fucking retarded enough to think having babies at such a young age is a good idea. teenagers have just as much sex in europe, including countries where age of consent is lower than in the UK, and yet their teen pregnancy rates are much, much lower.

I agree with everything you said.

**Jezi** · September 23rd, 2009, 12:48 PM

I want a 13 year old boyfriend.

He'd have the same level of maturity as me.

We could play SNES all day.

**misrule** · September 23rd, 2009, 05:58 PM

Originally Posted by Jezi

I want a 13 year old boyfriend.

He'd have the same level of maturity as me.

We could play SNES all day.

Sadly, I think I could lend you a 27 year old one with whom you could do exactly the same thing.
Actually, not exactly. It'd be N64 instead.

**L1049** · September 23rd, 2009, 06:02 PM

Originally Posted by misrule

Sadly, I think I could lend you a 27 year old one with whom you could do exactly the same thing.
Actually, not exactly. It'd be N64 instead.

Name, number, and location

I'm a gaming nerd, what can I say.

**misrule** · September 23rd, 2009, 06:14 PM

Originally Posted by L1049

Name, number, and location

I'm a gaming nerd, what can I say.

Nothing wrong with that. just between you and me ... it's actually my N64. And My Gamecube. And Wii. But hey, I need the distraction, being a WOW widow and all. If you can tear him away from that - he's all yours!

**Nightdragon** · September 23rd, 2009, 10:05 PM

OK Proffessor John needs to get his balls cut off

**feliciakb** · September 25th, 2009, 12:36 AM

Disturbing. I just remember being 14 and getting hit on by 18/19 year olds and how much that skeeved me out. I found it very intimidating. Not so much by time I was sixteen. You do a lot of growing up in those few years.

I also had a cousin who developed really early (like DD cup by time she was 14) and began having a sexual relationship w/ a 17 year old guy when she was just 12! It was an extremely unhealthy, controlling situation. Messed her up for a long time (if not permanently in some ways - she has major man issues even now). She ended up in a mental hospital by time she was 15. I mean, yeah, she looked every bit a grown woman, but obviously lacked the emotional maturity to handle the situation.

I think lowering the age to 13 would just open the door to a whole lot of exploitation. And, yes, while most have reached pubescence by that age (I was 14, actually), most are still far from being fully developed.

**Honey** · September 25th, 2009, 01:31 AM

Originally Posted by sputnik

uh, paedophiles are into pre-pubescents. last time i checked, 13 and 14 were pubescent teenagers.
and no, that doesn't mean i think it should be legal for them to sleep with 30 year-olds, i'm just saying the word paedophile is beginning to lose its real meaning from people using it so casually without stopping to think about the real meaning.

Thank you, the pedo word gets used all the time, if you feel mature enough at 14 to have sex, and use contraception, I don't see the problem. Better to talk about it than sweep it under the carpet.

I must be a paedophile