Clarifying the issue

THE debate on lowering the age of consent is coloured by a concern that the law will be seen as sending a signal that sex at 16 is acceptable to society.

The reality is that this law is about ‘statutory rape’ — words which transmit quite a different signal. If in future debate the topic was referred to as the rape age law rather than the age of consent, it might allow for a little more light and a little less heat.

Peter Molloy