Rejected petition: Review the age of consent law to better protect 16–17year-olds from exploitation
Rejected on
Review the age of consent (16) to better protect young people from exploitation. Consider raising the age or introducing age-gap laws to prevent significantly older adults engaging in sexual relationships with 16–17-year-olds.
At 16, young people cannot vote, drink or smoke, recognising their vulnerability. Yet they can legally consent to sex with much older adults. Social pressure and desire for validation can make these relationships seem acceptable, even when there is a clear imbalance in power and maturity. The law should better reflect this and protect young people from potential exploitation.
Why was this petition rejected?
There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.
You are more likely to get action on this issue if you sign and share a single petition.
You may wish to sign this petition, which calls for similar action: "Raise the age of consent to 18 with peer exception for 16-17 year olds" https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/767458
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.