The Age of Consent and Sexual Citizenship in the United Kingdom: a History

Abstract

What is an ‘age of consent’, and how does it contribute to defining and regulating sexual life? Contemporary public debates, such as those surrounding attempts to lower the male homosexual ‘age of consent’ during 1998–9, often ignore even the recent history of this shifting concept. This chapter explores changing understandings of the ‘age of consent’ in the United Kingdom from a historical perspective. It discusses several periods when political debates and changes to the law have restructured definitions of the ‘age of consent’, and explores the forms of power and resistance which have shaped the law and social attitudes. It then moves on to explore how the meaning of the age of consent is currently being contested, and signals how the concept might be rethought in the light of developments in social and political theory, particularly in relation to changing understandings of ‘citizenship’. The chapter concludes by examining whether recent developments support claims that sexuality is becoming more democratically negotiated. It argues that the evidence is complex and contradictory, demanding an analysis which is sensitive to gendered attitudes, a complex legal context and the variety of forms of sexual behaviour. Nevertheless, changing understandings of the relationship between sexuality, consent and citizenship are apparent.KeywordsSexual OffenceMale HomosexualParliamentary DebateSexual AutonomyStatute BookThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.