Government ministers are considering introducing a law that would make it illegal for older people to sleep with teenagers aged 16 or 17, following the Russell Brand case. A government minister said on Sunday that calls for such a law would be considered.
Minister responds to calls for change
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden appeared on Sky News's Sunday Morning With David Olusoga programme and referred to Brand's conviction for rape and sexual assault, and his prison sentence of 10 years and six months. He said the country had been "appalled by the abuse of power of powerful men" and that "a big age gap can be a part of that".
Addressing the call for a staggered age of consent, McFadden said: "So, I think what we've seen over the last week has certainly raised that question. There'll be a number of issues to work through on it.
"I can't give you a final answer on that today, but I do think that between Russell Brand, David Walliams, what's been put out there, people are looking at these issues in a new light."
Victim's call for a staggered age of consent
Mia Latter, who slept with Russell Brand when she was 16 and he was in his 30s, gave an interview to the Sunday Times in which she called for a staggered age of consent. She said: "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."
Ms Latter, who has waived her right to anonymity, was one of six women who made allegations against Brand in the Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches investigation. Speaking to The Times, she said: "I think people were so struck by my story because of the age difference and the clear imbalance [in power].
"I don't want to criminalise teenagers having sex with each other. If you're between the ages of 16 and 18, it seems reasonable that you can have relationships with each other, and [teenagers] are always going to."
International precedents and next steps
Canada and some states in Australia and America have laws that keep the age of consent at 16 but make it illegal for people over a specified age, often around 23, to sleep with someone who is just 16 or 17.
McFadden said: "What we'll definitely do is think about whatever we can do to help people at the wrong end of these abuses of power. We're already changing the nature of NDAs, which are used to silence people in the workplace on these issues."
Brand was convicted of rape and three counts of sexual assault, involving four women between 2004 and 2009, following a trial at Southwark Crown Court. He was found not guilty of two counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.
