Age of consent

The age of consent is the age at which a person can legally have sexual intercourse.

History
Historically in England and Wales the age of consent for heterosexual intercourse for girls was 12, there was no lower age limit for heterosexual intercourse for boys, buggery (but not other forms of gay sex) was illegal between men and boys at any age, and there were no explicit laws about lesbian sex.

The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 raised the age of consent for girls to 16, and also introduced the offence of gross indecency between males, effectively making all kinds of gay male sex illegal, irrespective of age.

The Sexual Offences Act 1967 legalised sex between men in private, with an age of consent of 21. It did not apply to Scotland or Northern Ireland, where gay sex was still illegal.

Equivalent legalisation happened in Scotland with the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1980, and in Northern Ireland two years later through the Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1982.

The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 reduced the age of consent for sex between men to 18, and legalised anal sex between men and women, also with an age of consent of 18.

The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 introduced a common age of consent of 16 (17 in Northern Ireland) for both males and females, and for both heterosexual and homosexual acts.

The Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey have their own legal systems, and changes in the age of consent happened at different dates as shown in the table below.

Suggestions for further lowering of the age
In May 2013 the barrister Barbara Hewson should be lowered to 13 to stop the "persecution of old men". Peter Tatchell, while supporting a lowering of the age, has criticised Ms Hewson, saying that 13 is too young.

In November 2013 Professor John Ashton, president of the Faculty of Public Health, said there should be a national debate on lowering the age of consent (presumably for both gay and straight sex) to 15, as this would make it easier for 15-year-olds to get sexual health advice from the NHS.