UK: Under-age sex should lead to more prosecutions, says senior Tory

The Conservative party’s children’s spokesman has said that children who have sex under the age of 16 should face tougher sanctions.

Tim Loughton warned there were no apparent consequences for those who had under-age sex, the Daily Mail reports. He said:

‘We need a message that actually it is not a very good idea to become a single mum at 14. [It is] against the law to get pregnant at 14. How many kids get prosecuted for having under-age sex? Virtually none.’

Asked if was advocating more prosecutions, Mr Loughton said: ‘We need to be tougher. Without sounding horribly judgmental, it is not a good idea to be a mum at 14. You are too young.’

Ann Furedi, chief executive of BPAS, said:

‘Let’s just say that I don’t think jailing young mothers is a sensible way to address teenage pregnancy in Britain. It’s widely recognised and accepted that young people are having sex at an earlier age. The notion of criminalising that activity, and in particular criminalising motherhood at any age, is abhorrent.’

But sociologist and author Patricia Morgan said: ‘The age of consent is there to protect children up to a certain age because they can’t necessarily judge things for themselves.’ She added:

‘I agree with Tim Loughton that we should be sending a message out. There should be more prosecutions. When I was growing up, young men were very frightened about going all the way with girls under the age of 16. Now we are just telling children they can be sexually active whenever they are ready and we will make it safe for you.’

Despite latest figures showing a slight decline in the number of pregnancies among the under-16s, Mr Loughton said: ‘Instances of 12 and 13-year-olds has risen, and what is really alarming are the figures showing a huge percentage rise of second-time abortions by under-age girls’. He blamed sex education, state support for teenage mothers and media portrayals of young motherhood.

How Tories would criminalise teenage mothers: Under-16s who have sex should be prosecuted, says shadow children’s minister. Daily Mail, 18 March 2010