Analysis: Sex and relationships - A fair approach to youthful affairs?

The London Child Protection Committee's new protocol on Working with Sexually Active Young People under the age of 18 (Children Now, 25-31 May) has sparked a heated debate and has horrified some sexual health and children's rights campaigners, who fear it could put a major dent in efforts to reduce the UK's high teenage pregnancy rate and potentially criminalise young people engaged in normal behaviour.

The protocol is an interim arrangement while government guidance is being drawn up on recommendations made by Sir Michael Bichard in his report into the Soham murders, and highlights factors that should be considered when agencies are trying to determine if a relationship poses a risk of harm to a young person. There is no room for manoeuvre when they are dealing with children aged under 13; the protocol points out that the Sexual Offences Act 2003 says children in this category are not able to give consent to sexual activity, so police and social services must be informed of all cases where there is believed to have been penetrative sex.