Kathleen Marshall said, in her written evidence on the Sexual Offences Bill, that the proposal targeting girls aged 13 to 15 should be shelved until rigorous research is conducted into the likely consequences of a change to the law.
Currently, boys aged 13 to 15 who engage in consensual sexual activity with girls of the same age are judged to have broken the law.
While insisting that she was not arguing for a lowering of the age of consent, she said of the proposal to extend this to girls of this age group: "We need to be certain that the threat of legal punishment and criminalisation does in fact prevent early sexual activity. Extending the threat - empty or otherwise - to girls, may have serious negative consequences such as preventing them from seeking help and advice."
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