A Reader Responds:
I believe that the age of consent for sex was set by the
law in concern that "young people who are not emotionally
or mentally able to make right mature decisions concerning
sex."
Why The Laws Exist
Because a child can be "manipulated" by an adult
to believe it is ok for her to do sexual favors for the
man/woman. Most commonly, the grown adult will say to an
under age female something along the line "your parents
don't treat you like an adult... you are grown up, you know
what love is... your parents are over controlling, etc..."
The statutory law was setup for parents to be able to
protect their children from manipulation. Do you agree?
When a man or woman is above the consent age, the law no
longer protects them because "they should know better"
than to be manipulated.
It's An Arbitrary Number
But the age of consent is an arbitrary number generated
from what the society believe when a person "should
know better".
It's Not A Guarantee
Therefore there is no guarantee that a 20-year-old woman
will have the mentality nor emotional maturity to make the
right decision concerning sex.
I guess what I feel is that, on a "moral" issue...
the concept is still the same. If a person manipulates another
for sexual favors, it is "concensual rape." Just
morally, not lawfully.
– Anonymous Reader
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