The places with a staggered age of consent – and what the UK could learn

Detailed summary

The law around the age of consent could be changed, after one of Russell Brand’s alleged victims argued teenagers get too little protection from sexual exploitation. In the UK,…

Latter, 37, said she had an emotionally and sexually abusive relationship with Brand when she was 16 and he was 30. Brand has confirmed they had a consensual relationship.

She claimed he referred to her as “the child” around his entourage and said there was a clear power imbalance between the pair.

“I think we all sort of agree that… adults shouldn’t be allowed to have sexual relationships with children, with somebody under the age of 18,” she told The Sunday Times.

Speaking on why she decided to be named publicly, Latter added: “I just keep hearing the words of Gisèle Pelicot: that shame must change sides. It’s not my shame. It’s not my burden to carry any more.”

Walliams denied abusing his position of power and said he did not break the law.

The government said on Sunday it would consider changing the law but did not give any further details about when or how. Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden told Sky News: “What we’ll definitely do is think about whatever we can do to help people at the wrong end of these abuses of power.”

She said this would “protect [them] from predatory adults” and “reflect substantial power imbalance that can be created between the ages of 16 and 20”.

“We believe that implementing it across the UK would offer protections to children in the way it does in many other jurisdictions.”

Latter told the Sunday Times: “If you’re in your thirties, forties, and fifties and you’re trying to have a relationship with someone under the age of 18, it [should] be a criminal offence.”

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