Age Of Consent And Age Of Responsibility

This essay plan is going to use theoretical context, with case studies, to critically assess the challenging arguments based upon the issues of reducing the age of consent from 16 to 14 in the UK.

The topic of the age of consent has been very controversial and relevant in contemporary society. The topic is often questioned by what determines the appropriate age of consent? This is often questioned within political arguments by those who have prioritized protecting the needs of children and young people (Moore, et al., 2018). The age of consent is 16 years in the UK as it was designed to protect children (The Guardian, 2013). Throughout many years, there has been a lot of new knowledge-based upon childhood and consent, which has often been learned through time and place. Through this, there have been some contemporary developments that have proposed that there should be a reconsideration of age appropriateness in terms of sexual consent.

The essay will firstly discuss the multiple understandings of childhood and sexuality that have developed since the seventeenth century (Ariès 1962, cited in Waites, 2005). In the twentieth century, different theorists investigated development psychology which saw childhood as a “process of maturation” (Archard et al., 1993, cited in Waites, 2005). Childhood and sexuality were thought to be “fixed properties of the body and mature” (Heywood et al., 2001, cited in Moore, 2018). As childhood enters the puberty stage and the body starts maturing for adulthood, the primary function is then sex reproduction. Therefore, 16 appeared to be the logical age of the appropriate age of consent as it is when a young person moves into the adolescent stage. 16 is the school leaving age in the UK and has related to signs of maturity. In contrast, contemporary sociological theorists have emphasized childhood and children as social actors with agency. Sociological theorists look at childhood as being a social construct; children as subjects and the removal of their power. According to Bristow (1997), children’s sexuality was deemed to be dangerous and in need of containment. The family, the school, health professionals, and the police all hold a formal responsibility for the knowledge of sex education.

The essay will then unpack the meaning of consent. Age of consent is a term that dismisses young people from being involved in consensual sexual behavior below the appropriate age of consent (Waites 2004, cited in Cowling et al., 2004). In the UK, the current age of consent is 16 for everyone, following the Sexual Offences Act 2002 section 9 (Beresford, 2014). The meaning of consent here is central as it is hard to pinpoint one particular meaning, especially with how it is conceptualized regarding childhood and sexual behaviors. Section 74 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 defines sexual consent as:

“… a personal consent if he agrees by choice and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice” (Moore et al., 2018).

Consent during sexual behavior is deemed to be the number one rule. Legally it is a concept that is often thought of as a contact. Though it is not something that is really applied to a personal relationship. There has been a lot of academic focus on the moments before consenting to sexual behavior. Usually, consent is often seen as yes means yes and no means no. However, the actions and behaviors of an individual before consent should be acknowledged. When judging whether a young person has relevant kinds of competence to make safe decisions, society needs to look at if they have had the right education about sexual behaviors. Though in the UK, sex education is quite poor in schools, therefore society would need to look at whether the young person can process the appropriate information and emotional competence.

The essay will then go on to discuss the competing arguments on whether the age of consent laws should be lowered to 14 or to stay at 16. A lot of people believe that lowering the age of consent is against the stream and is often regarded as a ridiculous idea. Those aged 14 can have the same cognitive and emotional maturity as 16-year-olds. However, the question is how likely are 14-year-olds to recognize the risks and dangers of sexual behaviors. According to Smith (2018), she believes that life experience is essential when making important decisions. Making complex decisions at a young age and not knowing fully the impacts it can have can be damaging to a 14-year-old. The discussion on the age of consent reflects a culture of sexual behaviors and risks.

In Europe, most countries have an age of consent for 14 years. The UK is one of 10 countries, in the western jurisdiction, that has one of the highest ages of consent and it is an offense for anyone to participate in sexual behavior with someone under the age of 16. The age of consent laws in place today create risks for those who are sexually active at 14 (Tatchell 2010, cited in Moore al., 2018). Therefore, lowering the age of sexual consent would result in the decriminalization of other young people participating in sexual behaviors with their peers under the age of 16 (Graham, 2018).

The president of the Faculty of Public Health, Professor John Ashton, called for lowering the age of consent from 16 to 15. His reasoning behind this idea was that it would make it easier to access and seek help for sexual health advice. The government rejected this however told how sex education within schools was out of date and needed to be modernized.

To conclude, the essay will critically assess the points made above in further detail. Age of consent laws are massively flawed and are trying to have a protective shield over those who are not yet 16. However, with two-thirds of people participating in sexual behavior before the legal age of consent, should the government put new laws in place to protect young people? This essay will uncover all those competing arguments with relevant sources to back up each point made.