So does that mean that the law is entirely settled and accepted? Well not quite.Some campaigners have been calling for the law to clearly define what grooming means. ThirtyOne:Eight, a charity consultancy that works on improving safeguarding in religious settings, said last year that its work had led it to conclude that the intention to groom – whether or not sexual abuse takes place – should become a self-standing crime.And Baroness Louise Casey, who carried out a national audit of grooming gang abuse, highlighted another issue.Sexual offences law includes a subtle exception for teenagers who have not yet reached the legal age of consent at 16 but who are in a relationship with each other. That nuance is designed to avoid needlessly criminalising 13 to 15-year-olds who seemingly know what they are doing.But, says Casey in her report, there were “examples of perpetrators being charged with the lesser offence of ‘sexual activity with a child’, rather than rape, because of a belief that the child involved had ‘consented’ to having sex.”Speaking to the BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, she said that it was “staggering” that adults who have sex children aged 13, 14, and 15 are not automatically charged with rape, as is the case in France.She has asked for that gap to be closed and told the BBC she had received an assurance from ministers this it would happen.”The recommendations from the grooming gang audit that I did last year are works in progress,” she said. “They’re not completed yet, and obviously, I would like the government to press on with those.”The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.All of that is aimed at dealing with crimes against children and young teenagers. So is there space for changes elsewhere?Some argue that the UK should have a “staggered” age of consent.This became a talking point in 2023 after allegations against Russell Brand exploded over the media.One of his alleged victims told BBC’s Woman’s Hour at the time that we should consider changing the law so that people over 18 would not be allowed to have sex with 16 and 17-year-olds.”There’s a reasonable argument [that] individuals between the ages of 16 and 18 can have relations with people within that same age bracket,” she said. “You’re allowed to make mistakes as a teenager, they should be with other people your own age.”The counter-argument to that is once someone is over the age of consent, the law already makes clear that they have the maturity to consent to sex. And if they have not given it, the law is clear: the act is not one of love, but rape.
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