Inventing a 'Lesbian Age of Consent'? The History of the Minimum Age for Sex between Women in the UK

This article analyses historical & contemporary debates over age of consent legislation regulating sex between women in the UK. A minimum age for sexual activity between females was created by the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1922, which removed 'consent' as a defence to the offence of 'indecent assault' against a girl under the age of 16, yet prosecutions remained extremely rare until recent years. The article analyses parliamentary debates surrounding the creation of this legislation to investigate whether & how sex between females was represented. It then examines how the subject was addressed at a series of historical moments when age of consent laws were subject to official review. It is argued that the recent invention of a 'lesbian age of consent' in popular & professional legal discourse signals changes in the ways in which the law is interpreted & implemented. In conclusion, the article argues that while a standardization & equalization of the law applying in male-female, male-male, & female-female contexts is desirable, an appreciation of the specific form & history of the age of consent applying to sex between females raises particular questions concerning the impact of reformulating age of consent laws