Recent calls for the age of consent to be lowered are falling on deaf ears
Barbara Hewson, winner of ‘Barrister of the Year’ award in 1995 for defending women’s rights during childbirth, in an interview with Spiked Online has called for the legal age of consent to be lowered to thirteen in light of what she calls the widespread "persecution of old men" following the Jimmy Savile scandal.
But huge majorities oppose lowering the age of consent: 87% say the legal age to have sex with someone of the opposite sex should be sixteen or over.
Just 1% believe that the legal age of consent should be “fourteen or under”, while another 1% say “there should be no age limit” and 3% say it should be fifteen.
In the interview Ms Hewson called BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall's fourteen offences of assaulting young girls "low level misdemeanours".
Not yet a member of YouGov? Make your opinion count by joining today!
