Illegal Or Just Creepy? The Complicated History of Age of Consent
Our legal understanding of what the age of consent should be is shaped by the moral viewpoints on sexuality at any given time. Outdated concepts like the idea that statutory rape is only something men do to young girls have been swapped out in favor of the idea that statutory rape is something an adult does to a vulnerable younger person.
These protections have improved but are still far from perfect. It’s hard to say who’s vulnerable, when our ideas about age and maturity are subjective. For example, parents can leverage the current legal system to separate young people in relationships if one person is 18 years old and the other is underage. If the young person who is the “victim” in this case wants to stop a prosecution, they can’t.
“The state takes over once the case has started,” Cocca said. “So you can have a relatively young person in a consensual relationship being on a sex offender registry, which affects where they work, where they live. If they can go to a daycare, be near a school, all that kind of stuff.”
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For hundreds of years younger girls, 15+ were urged to find a husband that was stable, 30+ years old so that he was mature enough to take care of her and the family they made. Now all of a sudden within a few decades the powers that be want all that to change. I am just asking if that has been the best thing for our society? I am not talking about the true sexual offenses, those are wrong no mattet what. I was 15, my husband at the time 29, I went after him because I knew I would never find a better guy in my lifetime. We have been together for 20+ years and have grown children, but will for the rest of our lives have to deal with a label on him. A label that NEVER should have been attached to anyone other than those that truly did horrible things to children.
Capt. Muncey
Your words are well spoken. I make it a point to not hug anyone anymore because of that ,except for my wife , kids ,and grand-kids. Because of being on the registry everyone else take it wrong.
I was at what I thought was a friends house. He is very ill with little time to live. His daughter was there whom I hadn’t seen for about 12 yrs. she is about 30 now and has 3 kids. It was really good to see her after so many years. Not thinking I gave her a hug. There in front of her mother. After I left I guess everything blew up. She was extremely upset that a SO would hug her. Her mother started calling friends letting them know how terrible that was and how terrible I was to do such a terrible thing. She wanted other people I knew to let me know about it so I would never do such a terrible thing again.
This is the situation we are in.
Nowadays just trying to be a decent human being toward another human being is looked upon as ‘grooming’. Sometimes a hug to show acceptance or a welcoming gesture is nothing more than that. Has our society gotten so paranoid that such actions are to put one’s character in question? When I coached soccer I might hug a kid…boy or girl…just to show appreciation for their effort to contribute to the team play…nothing more and it was taken as nothing more. The term ‘grooming’ is a terrible use of words to keep people from relating with each other. Politicians have turned good relationships into deviant actions just to make voters think they stand for something that is protecting society when in fact it is doing just the opposite. When my teachers hugged me I felt appreciated…not preyed upon.