Sexual Offences Act 2003

The Age of Consent

The legal age for young people to consent to have sex is still 16, whether they are straight, gay or bisexual. The aim of the law is to protect the rights and interests of young people, and make it easier to prosecute people who pressure or force others into having sex they don’t want.

For the purposes of the under 13 offences, whether the child consented is irrelevant. A child under 13 does not, under any circumstances, have the legal capacity to consent to any form of sexual activity.

Although the age of consent remains at 16, the law is not intended to prosecute mutually agreed teenage sexual activity between two young people of a similar age, unless it involves abuse or exploitation. Young people, including those under 13, will continue to have the right to confidential advice on contraception, condoms, pregnancy and abortion.

Protecting People with a mental disorder

The act has created three new categories of offences to provide additional protection for people with a mental disorder.

The Act covers offences committed against those who, because of a profound mental disorder, lack the capacity to consent to sexual activity.

The Act covers offences where a person with a mental disorder is induced, threatened or deceived into sexual activity.

The Act makes it an offence for people providing care, assistance or services to someone in connection with a mental disorder to engage in sexual activity with that person.

DEFINITIONS

Sexual Grooming

Section 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 makes it an offence for a person (A) aged 18 or over to meet intentionally, or to travel with the intention of meeting, a child under 16 in any part of the world, if they have met or communicated with that child on at least two earlier occasions, and intend to commit a “relevant offence” against that child either at the time of the meeting or on a subsequent occasion. An offence is not committed if (A) reasonably believes the child to be 16 or over.

The section is intended to cover situations where an adult (A) establishes contact with a child through for example, meetings, conversations, text messages or communications on the internet and gains the child’s trust and confidence so that they can arrange to meet the child for the purpose of committing a “relevant offence” against the child.

The course of conduct prior to the meeting that triggers the offence may have an explicitly sexual content, such as (A) entering into conversations with the child about sexual acts they want to engage him/her in when they meet, or sending images of adult pornography. However, the prior meetings or communication need not have an explicitly sexual content and could for example simply be (A) giving swimming lessons or meeting him/her incidentally through a friend.

The offence will be complete either when, following the earlier communications, (A) meets the child or travels to meet the child with the intent to commit a relevant offence against the child. The intended offence does not have to take place.

The evidence of (A’s) intent to commit an offence may be drawn from the communications between (A) and the child before the meeting or may be drawn from other circumstances, for example if (A) travels to the meeting with ropes, condoms and lubricants.

Subsection (2)(a) provides that (A’s) previous meetings or communications with the child can have taken place in or across any part of the world. This would cover for example (A) emailing the child from abroad (A) and the child speaking on the telephone or texting from abroad, or (A) meeting the child abroad. The travel to the meeting itself must at least partly take place in England or Wales or Northern Ireland.

BICHARD INQUIRY

“The government should reaffirm the guidance in ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ so that the Police are notified as soon as possible when a criminal offence has been committed, or is suspected of having been committed against a child – unless there are exceptional reasons not to do so”.

WORKING TOGETHER TO SAFEGUARD CHILDREN

Allegations of harm arising from underage sexual activity 5.23 -5.30

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

Enabling young people to access contraceptive and sexual health information and advice: Legal and Policy Framework for Social Workers, Residential Social Workers, Foster Carers and other Social Care Practitioners.

(Department for Education and Skills Teenage Pregnancy Unit 2004).

Enabling young people to access contraceptive and sexual health service: guidance for youth support workers

(Department for Education and Skills Teenage Pregnancy Unit 2005)

Best practice guidance for doctors and health professionals on the provision of advice and treatment to young people under 16 on contraception, sexual and reproductive health.

(Department of Health July 2004)

What to do if you are worried a child is being abused, Children’s Services Guidance.

(Joint publication from the Department of Health, Home Office, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor, Department of Education and Skills).

Handling allegations of sexual offences against children.
(Local Authority Social Services Letter LASSL (2004) 21 August 2004).

Guidance on offences against children.

(Home Office Circular 16/2005)

Children and Families: Safer from sexual crime. The Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Home Office 2004)

www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/children-safer-fr-sex-crime?version=1!JumpHtml(`www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/children-safer-fr-sex-crime?version=1′)

Further Information Available From

Home Office – www.homeoffice.gov.uk/sexualoffences/legislation/act.html

Teenage Pregnancy Unit – www.teenagepregnancyunit.gov.uk

Brook – www.brook.org.uk

Sex Education Unit – www.ncb.org.uk/sef

Cabinet Office – www.cabinetoffice,gov.uk

Department of Education and Skills – www.dfes.gov.uk

Department of Health – www.dh.gov.uk

Prompts for workers/professional coming into contact with sexually active under 18s