The age of consent or statutory rape laws are
intended to protect people like every other law is. The people in this case are minors.
Basically, the rationality behind the law is that a minor, due primarily to hormones, may,(keyword being
may) not be capable of the making the best choice regarding sexual acts.
In short, hormones make you hornier, horniness can affect judgement, you get the idea.
Unfortunately, there are
several serious problems with these laws, such as they are, and I'm here to take the time to explain them.
1.The blatant hypocrisy regarding what constitutes a "minor" and the implications wherein.
As you can see
here, the most common age in America is actually 16. Other states have it at 17 or 18.
That right there speaks volumes. How can anyone say "group x is incapable of consent" when the group itself is variable?
Essentially this law says anyone 18 and above partaking in a sexual relationship with people between those ages is either a law-abiding citizen or a sexual predator depending on
what state they were born in.
Hell, some states have it as high as 21. So, those of you who've ever done an 18, 19, or 20 year old at 21 would all be called rapists too. If you were born there. If not, you're completely clean.
Doesn't really make a whole lot of sense when I spell it out like this, does it?
2.The dangers of presumption.
The big problem with laws in general is that they don't discriminate.
A man who only stole to feed his hungry family is still a thief, a man who only killed in order to avenge a lost loved one is still a murderer.
Nowhere does is lack of distinction more harmful than in these laws, and it harms both parties involved.
On the minor's side, it tells them in every scenario, no matter how much thought they've given it, no matter how much they love and trust the one they're with, they are considered incapable of making one simple choice. Historically speaking, laws that have deprived a person of their right to choose for thermselves haven't been looked too fondly on, and for good reason.
(Frankly, these laws are about the closest thing to slavery we still have...)
Likewise, the adult in question also suffers from the law's presumptuous nature. It doesn't matter to the law if he or she's good or bad. It doesn't matter if the adult would never in a million years do anything to harm the minor, nor, again how much he/she loves them.
If they break this law, they're considered a rapist, and get the same treatment an actual rapist does.
No matter how you slice it, this is simply not logical.
Sex is not an inherently harmful act, and it does not become so merely because one person's draft age and the other isn't.
3.It is not proven fact that having a higher hormone count automatically overrides one's judgement at all times. Therefore...
Treating every case like that is nothing but misguided presumptuousness, as I said.
Simply being a tad bit hornier than the average joe does
not mean one cannot sit down, think, and come to a decision for themselves, it only means, it could, keyword being
could have a mild influence, at one time or another. Then again, that's pretty much how being horny in general is.
It's hardly equivalent to being drugged out of your skull or drunk off your ass.
4.The fact that laws themselves are
not fact and are often not right.
Yeah, that's pretty much it. Laws are not fact. They don't state what
is, they state how things will be treated, and they're constantly changing. Some stay, some go, and some are just plain wrong in the first place, not just standing beside justice but opposing it.
Did you know that marital rape wasn't illegal until
1993? Yeah. Slavery was legal, meth was legal... iin some parts of the world it's still legal to murder someone for their
style.
The point is, "legal" and "right" do not, and have never gone, hand-in-hand.
5.These laws do much, much more harm than good, and they do nothing that a better system couldn't.
Ideally, the best system would involve making sure both parties are giving informed consent.
Sex ed would be mandatory, of course, and everyone who had any interest in having sex would be tested.
Tests would determine how mature they are, and determine how much they know about sex and it's potential consequences.
It would also serve to determine their character, making sure they have every intention of being straightforward with their sexual partner.
Oh, and of course, there should indeed be a bare minimum age. Too young is too young. A reasonable amount of physical development is important, too.
Bare minimum... I suppose 15 would be acceptable, if they passed all the above critieria.
Younger than that feels unnatural. I mean, if they were the same age, I suppose it'd be fine.
Once they passed the tests, they'd be given a card, which could be scanned for authenticity.
A "Criteria Card" you could say...
The new and improved system would ensure that neither the minor nor the adult in question would suffer needlessly because of corrupt laws run by dated values.
The minor would not feel powerless and demeaned, the adult would not be wrongfully branded a rapist.
Everybody wins! Well, everybody that matters.
Congratulations, America! I just provided a perfect solution to a law that was sorely in need of replacement.
You can thank me later.
. If you go find he old SA tvtropes thread then people were quoting it there, but none of the stuff from my page was archived.
