In my experience (psychology studies, published research, own experiences and layman observation) one important aspect is that a 15-year old person has not at all the same means to use a against his/hers 15-year old victim as a 25 year old. Just in terms of average physical strength, possibility to remove the victim from his/hers surroundings by car as well as authority.

Alright, but we're talking about coercion at this point. I'm not arguing that ANYbody should be able to intimidate anybody this way. You're making the mistake of assuming an adult having sex with a minor necessarily involves this. Even if it might be more common in these situations, you're still guilty of ageism.

People don't like to be tricked. If someone gives 10$ to someone else, who asks for it for a bus ride or food, this someone will feel betrayed and/or angry if he/she finds out that the person he/she gave those 10$ used them for drugs instead. It doesn't change anything, they are 10$ poorer and the choice made by the other person doesn't change that. But still a lot of people care.

Agreed, but those people don't go to prison for a long time and their lives aren't ruined by being marked as a sex offender for life.

If your standard is simply that people are being deceived, then you're opening the doors to a ton of new regulations. It has to be something substantial.

In other words, she was playing a game half blind not being aware of all the rules, possibilities and her own rights. Also applies the other way around.

This is not exclusive to older people with younger people though. Should a 30-year old who does this to somebody his age go to prison for using a girl under false pretenses? Seriously, I think if you really understand what we're talking about, it's punishing people for breaking peoples' hearts. That's not a legal matter, that's just ordinary drama.

18 isn't a magic number and the age of consent isn't same in all countries. 25 wouldn't be a bad idea. Or a maturity test. However, I suppose 18 is seen as good enough approximation.

I say we go with a maturity test since age really isn't the issue is it? Most people here are bringing up maturity, experience and reason... why not simply just test for those things? That'd make a lot more sense for other things as well (e.g., driver's license, ability to drink).

A 25 year old and a 15 year old are not on equal footing when it comes to experience, authority, and power

True, but could you apply that to the questions that I asked?

Even when we talk about authority and power, if a 25 year old had sex with a 15-year old without utilizing that, why would it be an issue?

A 25 year old automatically has more power and authority. You can't pretend it doesn't exist.

I'm not pretending it doesn't exist, I'm asking why we assume it's at play.

Or let's look at it another way...

If I'm a super-genius at the age of 25 (let's say I have an IQ of 200) and I use that genius to manipulate a girl of the same age who is below average intelligence (we won't go so far as to say mentally challenged to avoid that conversation), do I deserve to go to prison and be marked as a sexual offender for the rest of my life?

I think I agree with you, but it's a very fuzzy, grey area that I think has to be handled with caution, because it can go in a very ugly direction.

OpinionGenerator • 4y
I agree, but I think the "ugly direction" of which you speak is still outside what we're talking about. Even the OP basically admitted to physical intimidation to make her point, but that's something that is ALWAYS punishable no matter what age you are... it's kind of a cheap way to make her point.

I think the line should definitely be AFTER puberty starts to kick in and past the age of when we teach sex ed, but after that, I don't think it makes sense to punish people when their partner is seeking sex. When I was 13 (actually younger than that TBH), I was ready to go and it'd be a shame to think the women I was fantasizing over would be seen as manipulative for giving me what I wanted at the time.

Again, I think this has to do with society's views of sex. When a guy gets laid, it's awesome. When a girl gets laid, it's a strike and after she's had X amount of those, she's a slut. Why is it that men rarely go through this when they have sex at an early age? Because they're not shamed like women are.