Men are extra seemingly than ladies to suppose a sexual relationship between a 16-year-old and a accomplice a long time older is suitable, new polling has discovered.
It comes within the wake of issues raised following claims Russell Brand was in a relationship with a 16-year-old schoolgirl when he was a 30-year-old BBC radio presenter.
Almost a 3rd of males who responded to the Ipsos polling stated the sort of age hole was acceptable, in comparison with 15% of girls who agreed it was okay.
The statistics confirmed a "grave need" for extra conversations with younger individuals on points resembling consent, energy imbalance inside relationships and gender equality.
Women had been barely extra more likely to help elevating the age of consent than males and to really feel that older males in relationships with at the very least a 10-year age hole maintain extra energy, in response to the unique Ipsos polling for the PA news company.
The survey of 1,077 adults throughout Great Britain got here per week after the allegations in opposition to Brand first surfaced.
Alice (not her actual identify) stated she had a sexual relationship with the comic when she was a teen, and he would ship BBC automobiles to her college to gather her from classes so they might have intercourse at his residence.
He grew to become more and more controlling in the course of the relationship, Alice stated, and inspired her to mislead household and mates in regards to the relationship.
What women and men take into consideration this age hole
According to the PA polling, greater than two-thirds (68%) of girls stated the sort of age hole could be unacceptable, simply over half (54%) of males felt this fashion.
More than 1 / 4 (27%) of males stated it was both considerably or fully acceptable for a 16-year-old boy to have a sexual relationship with a lady aged as much as 30.
This compares with simply 9% of girls considering that is acceptable.
The development continued with larger age gaps - as virtually a fifth (17%) of males stated it was considerably or fully acceptable for a 16-year-old woman to have intercourse with a person as much as 40 years outdated, in comparison with simply 4% of girls feeling this fashion.
When it involves a 16-year-old woman being in a sexual relationship with a person aged 50 or older, multiple in 10 males (13%) thought this was acceptable in comparison with 3% of girls.
Overall, 48% of individuals stated they both tended to or strongly supported the thought of elevating the age of consent from 16 to 18, whereas 40% stated they supported the thought of staggered consent, in findings just like these from a YouGov ballot earlier this week.
Staggered consent
Women had been barely extra more likely to help the thought of staggered consent - the place it's only authorized for a 16 or 17-year-old to have intercourse with somebody as much as the age of 20 or 21 - than males, with a 41% and 38% break up, in response to the Ipsos polling.
Speaking to BBC Radio Women's Hour earlier this week, Alice stated her mom had breakdowns as a result of "there was nothing that she could do to protect me from being in that relationship" as a result of reality {the teenager} was the authorized age to consent to intercourse on the time.
Alice stated: "People say 'well, just call the police'. And then what? I was legally allowed to be there."
Read extra:All the companies that have cut ties with BrandWhy are the allegations only coming out now?The allegations in full
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Alice added: "He was 30. Now that I'm in my 30s looking at 16-year-olds, I can't imagine finding them sexually attractive. I can't imagine thinking of them as a potential mate in any way."
Anna Edmundson, head of coverage and public affairs on the NSPCC, stated: "While 16 and 17-year-olds are above the legal age of consent, we know from young people that reach out to Childline that they can still be vulnerable to grooming, exploitation and other forms of abuse, particularly from adults."
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