We must not consent to rewriting the rules on teenage sex

Changing the law will send out the wrong signals, says Mike Judge.

IMAGINE you discover your 13-year-old daughter has been having sex with her boyfriend who is just weeks from his 16th birthday. You are outraged and upset, not least because you can imagine the sort of emotional pressure he might be putting on your young daughter. "Love" was unlikely to be his prime motive. Currently, you can warn your daughter, and the boyfriend, that what they have done is illegal and they had better pack it in.

Yet the Scottish Government is asking whether the age of consent laws should be changed so that it will be lawful for a 15-year-old boy to have sex with a 13-year-old girl. As part of a general consultation on sexual offences (which recently closed) the Government is asking whether it should be lawful for two teenagers to have sex providing it is consensual and there is less than a two-year age gap between them. You didn't hear about this aspect of the consultation? No, it was kept rather low-key.

Those who support this proposal argue like this: teenagers are far more sexually aware than they used to be and so long as they are of similar age and they both consent to sex, what business is it of the law to criminalise them? Haven't the police got better things to do?

Well, first let's deal with the issue of consent. As any rape lawyer will tell you, proving a lack of consent is notoriously difficult. This is all the more difficult if the case involves a 13, 14 or 15-year-old girl. And that's an important reason why the age of consent law was introduced. The very fact that sex took place with someone so young and so vulnerable is offence enough.

If the law is changed , a strong 15-year-old boy could force himself on his 13-year-old girlfriend who may not want sex. If she wishes to press charges for sexual assault, she must prove that she did not consent. Imagine it: a traumatised 13-year-old girl potentially being questioned in court by a clever defence lawyer. Age of consent laws spare young girls that kind of experience.

The age of consent law also sends out a strong signal about what age is appropriate for sexual activity. Relaxing the law in this area will inevitably be interpreted as official sanction for teenage sex. Scotland has poor sexual health with a rising incidence of sexually-transmitted infections and some of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe. This is not the time to be giving the green light to teenage sex. Sex is not a recreational activity for kids. We should be giving our children some moral guidance, helping them to say no to underage sex. The law has its role to play in that message.

Yes, there will always be some teenagers who sleep together – just as there are always some drivers who break the speed limit. But that's not a reason for relaxing speed limits, and it is not a reason for relaxing age of consent laws.

• Mike Judge is the Christian Institute's head of communications