Misty Media Sex Blog

October 21st 2005, 14:42 Jeff Sela

The UK Department for Education and Skills has issued a consultation into whether children suspected of having under-age sex should be reported to the police or social services. Some people are concerned that this might discourage youngsters from seeking help with sexual health issues like unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. With such diseases rising, and the UK having an unacceptably high rate of unwanted teenage pregnancies, this would be a disaster.

The concerns were highlighted by research undertaken by Brook:

In a survey recently carried out by Brook, the sexual health charity for young people, almost two thirds (64%) of young people said they would be less likely to seek advice on issues such as contraception, pregnancy and STIs if they knew that health workers could pass on information about underage sexual activity to social workers, a policy which has already been adopted in some areas and could become more widespread. Almost three quarters (74%) of young people under 16 said they would be less likely to seek advice in these circumstances.

Brook has launched a campaign to raise awareness of sexual rights of young people.