These are interesting and important questions.

Establishing a global age of consent would need to override the different ages that are considered acceptable in some cultures. I don't know why we would want to do this without also achieving a global consensus on other standards affecting crime and punishment.

Even in the USA different states do not agree on the death penalty, but many people in our culture might want other nations to eliminate practices that we consider barbaric.

If we had global laws that all nations agreed to observe, would they override US Laws? I doubt if the US will ever be persuaded to obey anybody else's laws. They are far too busy enforcing theirs in the rest of the world. So the idea is a dead duck before we start.

That aside, what is the purpose of having an agreed age of consent? I suggest that the most accepted reason is to protect younger people from predatory older people. In that case we need laws based on age difference and not primarily the age of the younger party. A maximum age difference of 5 years is probably about right where the older party is over a minimum age such as 18. I think the law should focus on adults who abuse children.

Everywhere in the world real live people begin to explore their own sexuality alone and with others before they reach the age of consent. I do not agree with the criminalisation of young people's behaviour with other young people of similar age, although I do agree that education is important to discourage promiscuity before adulthood.

Sex education starts in schools at a much earlier age than the age of consent. Why? This is a health and safety issue, but we should also understand that it is natural to be influenced by our own sexuality long before puberty.

I agree that teenage pregnancies are undesirable, but what the girl needs in these cases is understanding and support. All the girl has actually done is like going out in the rain and finding out that you get wet. Should we sentence the innocant baby to death? Not if I had anything to do with it, unless as a last resort, if the mother was traumatised by the circumstances in which she became pregnant.

The most insidious consequence of having an age of consent is the suggestion that authors should not use any underage characters in fiction. That is absurd. I certainly agree that images of children should not be used in a sexual context, but the whole thing has gone too far when a grandfather cannot sit his grandchild on his knee or demonstrate any affection to a grandchild without being accused of criminal behaviour. This is not only absurd, but harmful to children who need affection of an ordinary kind.

Fictional work is traditionally where human behaviour is explored and the ills of society are exposed, and I would suggest that the abuse of children is a perfectly valid topic to address in a fictional context. There are best selling novels in every bookshop about children being murdered, and I would not ban them. More authors should be prepared to write about the experiences of children in chatrooms, and the dangers and consequences of misrepresenting their age in order to participate with adults.

Impractical laws that attempt to restrain natural behaviour will always be discredited. What we need is a more practical approach based on a true and better understanding of human sexuality and development.

The right punishment for sexual activity between adolescents is education, and don't criminalise parents for kissing their children.