Is it right to criminalise underage sex for girls as well as boys?
The Sexual Offences Bill before the Scottish Parliament seeks to equalise the current situation where it is a criminal offence for a boy of 13 to 15 to have sex with a girl of the same age, but not for a girl of the same age. The Children’s Commissioner for Scotland has criticised the Bill for the potential danger it might put a pregnant teenage girl in. But she has also raised wider concerns about criminalising young people. So should the legislation be withdrawn or is this a simple matter of equality? Jane talks to Maggie Mellon, Children Frist, the Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and Katie Grant, journalist with the Scottish Daily Mail.
