The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered by law to be capable of agreeing to sex. It is just a number, but a number which varies greatly around the world. It is bound up with child protection, notions of honour and marriage, and concerns about paedophilia and society’s strange obsession with lust.

Mike Williams asks whether the broad range of ages implies the number is simply a social construct or if it is based on any hard and fast scientific evidence.

For much of history, laws have regulated relationships between women and men, girls and boys but why does the age of consent for homosexual relationships differ?

(Photo: Cartoon graphics of two hands with question marks on a red background, asking yes or no)