Post-secondary schools and universities should ensure that they have condom dispensers within their premises, MPs have said in a report where they recommended that the age of consent for sexual activity be lowered to 16.

The report, compiled jointly by the parliamentary committees for social affairs, family affairs and health, was presented to Parliament by Labour MP Godfrey Farrugia. 

Its conclusions had been announced in November. (See http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20151105/local/mps-recommend-lowering-age-of-sexual-consent-to-16.590960 )

While agreeing to reducing the age of consent, the MPs said proposals on age banding need more study before legislation (Age banding would allow sex involving minors where the age difference is not wide).

In their report, the committees said the law should establish what constitutes a sexual act and reduce the element of subjectivity[/quote]

"The law should establish what constitutes a sexual act and reduce the element of subjectivity" the report says.

The law should establish what constitutes a sexual act and reduce the element of subjectivity

In other recommendations, the MPs said:

Youths aged 16 and over should have access to medical care without need for consent by their parents or guardians;

There should be educational campaigns for young people and parents covering infectious diseases, the real value of sexuality, unplanned pregnancies and life as a single parent. Parenting skills courses should also be offered;

Sexual education for children should be mandatory in all schools;

Media campaigns about formation and sexual education should be held and family-based sexual education should be promoted;

Post secondary schools and universities should ensure that condom dispensers are available on the premises;

There should be better publicity of services offered by the GU Clinic and new services for advice in the community should be created;

Sexual and reproductive health should be given priority in the health service and research on the situation in Malta should be ongoing.

The discussion on reducing the age of consent was motivated by an increase in sexual activity by teenagers, growth in the number of teenage pregnancies, and also an anomaly in the law which allows people to marry at 16 but does not allow sexual activity before 18.

The committees consulted experts, various associations and NGOs before presenting its report. 

A number of doctors told the MPs how, according to the law to date, a family doctor could not see a patient aged below 18 without the parents' permission. The only service that could be offered without the consent of the parents was that given in the GU Clinic.

Reducing the age of consent to 16 would only partially ease the problem for the family doctors, but they still could not legally see patients aged 14 or 15 who sought medical help. 

Youth organisations told the committees that young people ignored the legal provisions on age of consent. Many only learnt that it existed when it started being discussed in parliament.

The Law Students' Association found contrasting opinions on whether the age of consent should be reduced, with some arguing that it could lead to more unplanned pregnancies and peer pressures. Others agreed that the age of consent should be reduced to a realistic level.

The Cana Movement argued that ideally, there should not be sex before marriage and sexuality should not be separated from love and marriage. Reducing the age of consent could lead to more sexual activity outside marriage. Nonetheless, this was an imperfect world and there should not be a discrepancy between the age of marriage and the age of consent.

A study by the Health Promotion Unit found that some 40% of young people aged 16-18 are sexually active. Of these, half had more than one partner and did nto use protection. 14% of young women admitted to succumbing to peer pressure

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