A Short History of the Age of Consent

In 1885, the British parliament passed laws which made it illegal to rape a minor child, i.e. anyone under the age of sixteen. This came after more than a decade of campaigning by reformers and pushback from politicians. These 1885 laws were the first time the age of consent laws in Britain and the empire had been updated since the 1500s!But were these laws as benign on the surface as they appeared, or was there something darker about the long-standing campaign to raise the age of consent? It may come as a shock today, but few reformers actually cared about child sex abuse, and wanted these laws on the books for another reason entirely. Listen in to find out more.WARNING: This episode contains discussion of material which some listeners may find distressing or offensive.