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 Outdated concepts like the idea that statutory rape is only something men do to young girls have been swapped out in favor of the idea that statutory rape is something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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Meanwhile, there are a lot of politicians who want to reduce the age of voting from 18 to 16 on the basis that 16 year olds are mature enough to vote. But wait, they aren’t mature enough to consent to sex? Libtartism 101!
The first time I heard that was when I was in high school (graduated in 1991); the great state of FLORIDA wanted to reset the voting age to 17 at that time for the same reasons you just posted.
Does FAC take a position on age of consent laws? I’m not aware that any of us wants to see them changed, other than to treat Romeo-and-Juliet offenses more carefully done others (and maybe bring laws more in line with Federal).
*”more carefully than some others” damn my autocomplete
🤔 But WE are the ones on a Registry!?
httpss://www.tulsaworld.com/communities/owasso/news/repeat-dui-offender-crashes-car-into-collinsville-school-bus-while/article_903faea7-4f7a-5d49-a717-709b9c1a642f.html
“Age of Consent”? I was in the US Navy at seventeen…yet I could not ‘consent’. Makes no sense to me. I have seen 15 year olds who are more mature than 25 year olds.
And yet you were allowed to drink as long as you were on base.
At that time, only ‘near beer’.
I call bullshit on the final words as if 1 day, week, or year between 17 and 18 will truly define one’s intellect as an adult. Sure they may be wiser, but there is a huge difference between being wiser, and simply being smart and intelligent. So, again consent laws are just a double edge blade.
I saw a court case that was weird and interesting. The “victim” had a birthday and the charges were based on being one day away from a harsher charge. The courts and lawyers were arguing if your birthday starts at 12:01 am of the day for everyone regardless of what time you were born or the actual time.
The attorney stated, that if his client turned the drinking age at 12:01 am and went into a store with his I.D, the clerk does not ask for the birth certificate to make sure it is the correct time of day, but looks at the date and allows the purchase.