[Sherman Logan]

In 16th-century England, the age of consent was set at 10 years old in an effort to protect young girls from sexual abuse by adult men.

You just know that when the first sentence in an article is oxymoronic, it isn't going anywhere useful.

[RipSawyer]

In the context of the sixteenth century that sentence made sense, they were raising the age to ten to protect young girls under ten. Those over ten were not considered young girls they were considered young women. Of course in today’s culture is sounds oxymoronic. In those days marriage at fourteen or even younger was nothing out of the ordinary. Anyone who made it to thirty was likely to be a grandparent.