age limitations

[isi]

When a person over the age of 13 has been groomed, raped, supplied drugs there is no law to help them or their parents. It is solely in the hands of the teenager themselves. How is this allowed in society?

If that happened to my daughter I would like to think that there were laws in place to empower child protection and the childs parents not to mention the child themselves.. At 13 they are still children. At 16 they are still children. which sadistic man made a law to suit peadophiles and child sex exploiters a free run in life to intimidate and control children under the age of 18 who they know are too scared and too young to comprehend what is happeneing to them and stand up for themselves.

Its very disturbing to say the least.

The age limit should be put to the age of 18 for consentual sex and for parents to protect their children

[RFLH]

It's never going to happen though in reality.

You've only got to look at the abortion statistics for those under 16 to see that there is more sexual activity going on than anyone thought. Even older women use abortion as a form on birth control. If they aren't learning the lesson, there's no hope for under 16's.

Whilst they're surrounded by sex in magazines, newspapers, tv, the films and peer pressure they're going to want to try it.

You can't police children 24/7, you have to give them the facts, talk about it, trust them and hope for the best.

[isi]

hey, i am trying to make a point of where children are exploited and that the age should be rasied to 18ylrs. yes children are having sex thruogh choice and therefore it should be left to education and choice as you pointed out.

but what if your child under the age of 18 was being exploited and because of the laws you could do absolutely nothing about it but sit back and watch your child deteriorate and turn into someone you dont know anymore? just imagine it..... read my poem in poetry and prose and imagine that happening to your daughter and there was nothing you could do to protect her.... its sick.

[RFLH]

That's what CEOP was set up for.

http://www.ceop.gov.uk/

[isi]

but without a child over the age of 13 making a statement near enough nothing can be done apart from building up intelligence whilst in the mean time the abusers carry on abusing. It is on the child to deal the cards of fate for their abuser... is that justice?

[RFLH]

I'd have thought that the SS would have to help.

[isi]

you would have thought ss would be able to do something but all I will say about that is Baby P.

Children age 13 plus are slipping through the net of protection. If you read 'stop, thats my daughter' you would realise that ss o next to nothing too. They are simply just there. And all this due to the law.

It such a sad story that is being repeated and awareness is key to help stop exploitation. These children are being raped. Infused with drugs and left for dead.
It is sad but so very real and so very true.

The age limit does need to be raised. These children need a voice.

[Rights Fighter]

Raising the age of consent to 18 will not stop children have sex - many are sexually active from the age of 11 or 12 unfortunately.

I see your argument Isi but I also see RFLH's.

If a child of 13 is being forced into prostitution then they can walk into a police station. SS will then become involved and hopefully the child will be put into a place of safety. I know that Action for Children and Barnardo's have agencies set up to protect children on the streets and work alongside the police and SS in such circumstances.

[friday]

the problem is that in some respects children are considered old enough to make important decisions (e.g a 13 year old can make decisions about medical treatment against the wishes of their parents if the doctor believes they are mature enough to make the decision) but in other respects they are considered children (e.g drinking, voting) yet at the same time a child of 16 can have a child but is not considered old enough to vote or smoke!

the system lacks logic since a child of 13 may not even be aware that they can approach the police, or even that a crime has been committed against them.

i know when i was raped at 16 the hospital wanted to inform the police and my parents but as i was 16 child protection in hospitals meant i could make the decision not to, however child protection in the police can inform parents, services etc up until the age of 18. if child protection can't even have the same age guidelines between hospitals and police then its no wonder the system is a mess.

i dont believe a child is fully able to make such important decisions until they are 18, although i know that raising the age of consent wouldnt get rid of underage sex at all. i think its less about the age of the child as it is about the age of the other person. there is a big difference between a 17 year old taking advantage of 15 year olds naivity (since the 17 year old is likely to be somewhat naive themself) and a 30 year old doing the same. just to point out i am not saying there is a problem with large age gaps in relationships as long as the people involved are both consenting adults. and by definition an adult (in this country) is someone 18 or older. my ex is 17 years older than me but i was over 18 when we met. i had left home, voted, paid rent...done many of the things we associate with growing up (and mentally have grown a lot due to things other people have done to me when i was too young to assess the risks appropriately or to even be listened to by police when i attempted to report adults inappropriate behaviour)

isi-i have not had anything similar to your childhood experiences so cant comment on the lack of support you or your family received. what i experienced as a child was minor incidence (thank god i got away beforre anything worse happened). one incident was a man in a shop who tried to talk me into swapping clothes for sexual favours, touching me inappropriately and wanting me to do "modelling" for him and to work in his shop. i thankfully got away and have since learned that he gets his "girls" on heroin and i don't even know, or want to know what else. i reported what had happened to a police officer on the street who directed me to a police station. when i went to the police station they didnt even take a statement or ask my name. all they said was they would "make a note of it". that seemingly insignificant event in their day had a massive effect on me and also on the girls who went in their after me and now "work" for him.

i definelty agree the police, social services etc need to do more to protect vulnerable young people. perhaps as outreach teams in known areas or else in youth clubs and schools to try educate kids about where to seek help before they end up in these situations so that if they do they know who to contact.

[frankgallagherwasere]

The government have taken steps now to correct this issue where any 3rd party can be prosecuted when a law is being broken - a pimp for example or someone who passed (trafficking) people to a known pimp. This covers all ages and not just under 18s as prostitution is illegal or making money from sexual favours. Same goes for drugs but there are already laws in place to prosecute sellers and traders.

It did hit a problem when chat rooms was brought up as they are legal but would be hit by the law as they are a form of internet prostitution. I think the proposed changes to the law went to the lords for discussion.

And RF the age of consent in the UK is 18 not 16, except of course the judicial abuses its interpretation to suit. It depends on the definition you read as everytime a government press release or law includes reference its interpreted differently !! I think its called guidelines????

[Rights Fighter]

FG, I respectfully suggest you find and post information to back your claim up.

The age of consent is 16 as far as I am aware, although, of course, I would be most grateful if you can provide positive proof (in law) of it being otherwise, as this might help in future appeals against conviction that I am involved with.

[isi]

The age of consent is 16. However still classed as a child in abuse cases up to the age of 18 depending on the circumstances I suppose. Maybe that is what you were thinking about... weather the person is still classed as a child as opposed to the age of consent.
I think that sex will still be experienced by maany under the age of 16 I just think that the age should be raised to 18 in regards to parents having a voice for their children as they are still very vulnerable.

[wessex]

The law does contradict itself concerning children and sex.For example the other day a 15 yo was charged with unlawful intercourse with an 11 yo.Now 16 he avoided jail because of Bebo pics showing the girl in an 'unfavourable' light sexually.So a 15 yo,underage themselves can be charged with having sex with a person underage,but in law cannot consent to having sex with someone over age.

Raising or lowering the age of consent will not solve the problem,in fact the more state intervention we get,the more beauracracy we have to pay for.In the trial above the girl didn't want a court case,the boy probally had his schooling ruined,and being on the sex offenders register for simply not asking a girl to produce her ID has only done harm to his development.
The only ones to benefit from this mess are social workers/police/lawyers with their overtime.

Back in 1992 I reported to Bradford police a girl who I knew was 14 working the red light district in Lumb lane.I checked it out,saw her,then phoned the police.They told me they were helpless to act.
Maybe things have changed,personally the law just seems to want easy hits like me.Simple case,no specialists involved,then they play the numbers game on convictions.more complex stuff gets put on the back burner.

[friday]

age of consent is definetely 16 unless the older person is in a position of power (teacher, doctor etc) or the person is deemed in law to be unable to consent (i.e mentally incapable of understanding what they are doing, for example if they had severe learning difficulties)

yes new laws have been brought in to "protect" prostitutes but unfortunately the people suffering are women who are working together for safety but are deemed in law to be running a business and thus have their money taken and are forced out onto the street. the true criminals never seem to get found or appropriately sanctioned, possibly because vulnerable prostitutes are easier targets.

[frankgallagherwasere]

This age of consent issue is a nightmare cos its manipulated from all angels to suit.

In the old days the age for consent in England was 16 and Scotland 17 thats what made Gretna famous, or infamous. However, this was for marriage only when one needed their parents consent. I believe somewhere down the line the laws were changed to bring sexual activities into line with marrriage. It certainly was never talked about being applicable to relationships by anyone I know. I had plenty of girls over 18 when I was younger than 18, no one said anything was wrong just jealous.

In saying that, I was clearly told by the coppers during interview the age of consent is 16 is if the partner was under 31 as this was appropriate - probably another unwritten rule were not supposed to know about? BUt in my case it was all a lie and I had no interest that way in them - even if they hoped I did.

The age for indecent photos is 18, irrespective of consent - not applicable.

As far as I am aware the age of consent is 16, when this was actually written into Law, I have no idea and I don't know what specific law they use 2003 I assume, but I bet there is another law somewhere that contradicts it in someway. But thats how I have believed it for atleast the last 5yrs or so. This is also behind the drive to stop youngsters not working full time till 18, to bring everything into line. Someone can leave school at 15 yet not be able to do certain jobs till 18, thats age discrimination !!