- Four women have accused comedian Russell Brand of rape and sexual assault.
- One of the women, Alice, was 16 when she said Brand groomed and sexually assaulted her.
One of the women who accused Russell Brand of sexual assault is calling for UK consent laws to be changed after her traumatic experience with the comedian.
The woman, identified as Alice in a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches, told the publications earlier this month that Brand groomed and sexually assaulted her when she was 16.
Three other women also told the outlets that Brand sexually assaulted them between 2006 and 2013.
Brand has vehemently denied the accusations. A lawyer for Brand did not respond to a request for comment sent during the weekend.
Alice wrote in a column published in The Sunday Times that she was naive to be in a relationship with a man in his thirties and that her parents could do nothing to stop their relationship because of the UK's consent laws.
The age of consent in the UK is 16 years old.
"There was nothing my parents could do to stop the relationship with Russell; no legal recourse," Alice wrote. "My mother tried everything — grounding me, taking away my phone, even going to see Russell to remind him that I had parents who loved me — but like many 16-year-olds, I was headstrong and thought I was so mature. He told me I was grown up and I believed it. My mum couldn't go to the police, much as she wanted to, because what would she have said? My daughter is 16 but in a relationship with an adult man? It wasn't illegal."
Alice said Brand referred to her as "the child" and that the relationship ended after a sexual assault.
"I knew at that point that he didn't care about hurting me physically or emotionally," Alice told British media. "It shouldn't take you having to punch someone and to wind them to get them off you. It shouldn't be a physical fight."
Alice, now in her thirties, wrote in the column that the law should be changed to protect teenage girls.
"I believe 16 and 17-year-olds should be allowed to explore their sexuality but without undue influence from much older people," she wrote.
She suggested there should be "staged consent," in which the age of consent can be kept at 16 while making it illegal for someone over 21 to engage in sexual activities with someone under 18.
The allegations have sparked a debate about consent laws in the UK, where the age of consent has been at 16 since 1885. UK citizens must be 18 or older to drink alcohol or vote in a general election.
In the US, consent laws differ by state. They can be restricted by age difference and authority or "unrestricted," meaning that, at a certain age, an individual can provide consent regardless of either.
Eleven states, including Alabama, Georgia, and South Dakota, have unrestricted consent laws at 16.
According to the investigation into Brand, more women beyond the four accusers have spoken up about the comedian's "controlling, abusive and predatory behavior."
After the report was published, an old clip featuring UK comedian Katherine Ryan resurfaced in which she called out an unnamed "sexual predator" while filming Comedy Central's "Roast Battle" in 2018. Brand and Ryan were co-judges on the show.
Deadline reported that Brand was later booted off the show after Ryan accused him of sexual assault.