General Chat

exchange on Twitter ( which I don't frequent lol)

Person 1 ***** ( named removed by me)

If XXXXXX ( no friend of mine ) is guilty of alleged sexual offences of a 14 year old.If found guilty he deserves to be punished.


Barbara Hewson
?@BarbaraHewson
@ ******* Not if said 14yo is now a mature adult: stale complaints of sexual offences are not what we expect of mature adults. Get over it.

There are other comments which show her to be completely ...well insert your own words...

but referring to acts of sexual abuse of children as "sexual peccadiloes" is giving entirely the wrong message

nb "peccadillo"

A small flaw or sin.
A petty offense.

Hardly!

mind it could be worse and said 12 as they have in Vatican City,,,,,,,,,

yes its 12,,,,,,,!!

of course the age will never be lowered in our life time,,,,,and she is entitled to her opinion,what her opinion mustnt do is send out a message for the sick minded people who commit these terrible acts a thirteen year old and above is fair game,,,,,,a statement she clearly should not have done in public,her position needs a careful look over,!

I think we need to look at the sexual offences legislation. I agree that the age of consent should remain at 16 but I think there should be some flexibility where consensual sex occurs between young people of a similar age.

Currently a 16 year old girl could be prosecuted for having sex with her boyfriend aged 15 and 10 months. This type of prosecution very rarely happens but a sexual offence conviction could mean the girl signing the sex offenders register for the rest of her life.

I know the police and the CPS do look at age differences before prosecuting and this is a good thing. The people who need to be stopped are those older men/women who prey on young people a decade or more younger.

Strange world we are living in!

School leaving age 17
Mature enough to vote 18
Mature enough to buy alcohol 18
Mature enough to buy tobacco products 18
Mature enough to drive a motor vehicle 17
Mature enough to marry 16
Mature enough to consent to sexual relations 13? :-0

Isn’t it amazing this woman can advocate paedophilia openly, but somebody that makes an off the cuff remark that’s not quite PC in a private situation, can be hauled up before the courts in a trice!


Mayfield.
They have finally taken over the asylum.

Good point Dizzi, while at school they are still considered children, so the age of consent should be 17.
Jean xx :-)

HORRIFIC

THEY JUST RAISED THE SCHOOL LEAVING AGE TO 17
BUT AGE OF CONSENT DOWN TO 13

TERRIBLE

I also think our children need protecting from people with views like Barbara Hewson :-|

Muffy if you start a petition let me know, I will be very happy to sign it, the woman is a complete idiot, I think our children need protecting from any male, [celebrity or not] who thinks it ok to abuse them.
Jean xx

To Barbara Hewson :-P :-P :-P

Words fail me, well except the words that crossed my mind when I read this article, and I cannot use those words on here ;-)

Barbara Hewson should be reported to The Bar Council for making totally unacceptable remarks that are insulting, degrading, and an affront to human decency :-|

Its not the age that needs to be lowered its one tariff for offenders, a set 20 years should be put in place.!

A 13 year old does not have the emotional maturity to handle a sexual relationship. Some (girls) may plaster themselves with make up during the day, but go to bed clutching their favourite soft toy.

It's not unknown for young teenagers to use the age of consent as an excuse if they feel they are being coerced by someone in their peer group. Lower the age of consent and they will be more vulnerable to peer pressure let alone unwanted attention and grooming by adults.

The only suggestion she made which *might* be considered is a statute of limitations for sexual misconduct other than rape.

I'm horrified but also sad that someone like this could even think her views are right. I would feel sorry for her if she wasn't so dangerous to the well being of our children.

Edit - before someone says that I'm in Australia and it doesn't affect me (it has been said before) - I have family and friends in the UK. A niece who is 13 and several nephews aged 11+.

Muffy, re petition....imo. in suggesting the age of consent be lowered to 13 she is also suggesting that at least one of the clauses in the UN Convention on the rights of the child ( ie under 18) be broken, certainly the first .

ie

The right to a childhood (including protection from harm)
The right to be educated (including all girls and boys completing primary school)
The right to be healthy (including having clean water, nutritious food and medical care)
The right to be treated fairly (including changing laws and practices that are unfair on children)
The right to be heard (including considering children's views)

I would have age of consent set at 21,


7.17 27 or 87,,,,,,,,,sexual abuse is sexual abuse.and all should be treated with the same disgust,

deep breath...

It seems obvious to me , and please correct me if you disagree with my interpretation, I have only read through quickly...that Ms Hewson, confuses 'the age of puberty ( which she states is now age 10 where once it was 15) with what I would call the 'age of emotional and physical maturity' ...NOT the same thing.

At 16 even , though you are at the age of consent, many people aren't mature enough emotionally or socially to deal with unwanted sexual advances. NO ONE I don't think can really believe that any 13 year old is emotionally mature enough to have full knowledge of what they are agreeing to if letting an adult have sexual contact ( sorry picking words carefully but you know what I mean) nor that they would be able to say 'No!' if the adult was coercing them, persuading or otherwise using 'undue influence'.

I'm not saying this at all well , but it just boils down to knowing that 16 is the minimum age it should ever be, if children are to have a childhood.

I can't believe she:
" described the crimes committed by disgraced broadcaster Stuart Hall as 'low level misdemeanours' which would not normally be prosecuted."

Stuart Hall has admitted luring girls, including a 9 year old to a 'special room', set up for sex FFS - and THAT's low level??????

Edit: Mind you, this is the Daily Mail, so I looked elsewhere - and yes it's reported on Sky and 'Spiked'.

My daughter is almost 13 and the very thought of this affects my brain in ways i never believed possible.........

So easy when you're on the outisde looking in,


wonders how she would feel defending a 13 yo who was pregnant and possibly her daughter ?,,,,,, :-

My first thought was.......

Which one of the celebrities does she know personally?

Even if she got her wish, and the age was lowered, these alleged crimes were committed when the age of consent was 16, so, if proven, they're still guilty.

Just found this:
"The age of consent hasn’t always been 16 in England. Before 1885, the age of consent was 13, until the law was changed to end child prostitution"

So, she welcomes child prostitution at 13? 16 is sad enough!

Perhaps this allegedly 'clever' woman should learn through history.