Age of Consent

[Reddy]

I am not sure if this thread should be posted as “Sexual Curiosities” or “Political Point of View,” as it encompasses both genre.

The topic is “Age of Consent.” Generally speaking we consider the legal age to be 18 and refer to any thing less as “jail bait.” Strangely 28 states consider the age of consent to be 16 and an additional 8 states say the age is 17. Nevertheless, it is safe to say even if they are fully consenting, if you touch it your are in deep fecal matter.

It seems to vary in many countries and cultures. For example, most Islamic or Arabic cultures there is no age of consent. You simply must be married. If an unwed woman of this culture engages in sex and is not married, the penalty is death. However, the male involved is not admonished in any manner. Hey girls, what do think about those "equal rights?" Now homosexuality is a different issue and is punishable by death (in Iran) regardless of the gender. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has publicly declared that, “there are no homosexuals in Iran.”

On the other end of the spectrum there are Latin American countries where the age of consent is much younger. In Argentina the threshold is only 15. Most interesting is Columbia where the age for girls is 12. Yes I said 12 and for boys it is only14. There is apparently no differential between heterosexual and homosexual consent. Ironically, the incidence of rape in Columbia is half that of the United States. In fact all of there crime, minus the drug trafficking, is considerably below that in the US.

I have a close friend who works for a multinational corporation and lives in Columbia, South America. He has told me that as long as you are a citizen of Columbia, sex with what we consider minors is entirely legal. However, if you are US citizen, it becomes a no, no. Not by the host country, but by our very own Federal bureaucracy. He has jokingly told be he has considered giving up his citizenship to enjoy the younger things in life.

Please understand that I am not promoting nor condoning sex trafficking, prostitution or forced sex. I am merely stating that if an age of consent has been defined, why can’t we participate without fear or condemnation.

Irregardless, of your position or opinion on this subject I tend to believe that this is just another example of our freedoms being encroached upon by too much government. What are your thoughts?

[crzy67]

When is comes to the subject of age of the consent laws here in the U.S., usually those laws apply to people of that age. If a 16 year old has sex with another 16 year old, the courts are less likely to prosecute them. However, if an grown adult has sex with a 16 year old, then more often than not, someone could go to jail. As for other countries, I would not even think about having sex with someone under age. I knew a guy from high school who went to Mexico (age of consent 12) has sex with two girls (one 12 another 13), got caught and spent about 3 years in a Mexican prison until his family bribed someone to release him. I heard from his family, that many bad things happen to him while he was there. Also, here in the U.S. it is very illegal to go to other countries in order to have sex with someone under age. The best advice that I ever heard someone say, "Go by the country's drinking age. If, they are old enough to drink, then you are safe and they are legal.

[drlauren]

16 works for me. It also seems to work for Alabama. haha Seriously, 16 seems the right age.

[oae1992]

Here is a good website that is pretty comprehensive....http://www.ageofconsent.com/ageofconsent.htm

[espana]

Age of consent in Spain 14 . My present womanfriends daughter Eliya is a stunning 5ft 11 in bare feet 36DD- 24 -35 and was 14 last week she looks and acts far older and has no problem in bars or clubs her present boyfriend is 16 years older and is a member of the Spanish government [junior minister] He proposed on her birthday and they will be married in November.
No one raises an eyebrow in fact it is allmost common place for both Genders to have significant realationships with older or younger partners.When in rome is the attitude I have adopted , never try to force the morality of one society onto another it allways backfires.
My own daughter who is now 18 has had the same partner for over 3 years and he is 10 years older and stinking rich did I find it strange sure, exceptable by society yes in fact I was congratulated on the match by our local catholic priest so who am I to argue with the church.

As an aside Eliya,s soon to be husband has arranged a honeymoon that takes in a number of destinations in the US, following the problems with Child protective services that another diplomat with a young wife had last year he has tied there hands as he has arranged diplomatic passports for them both

[Brigit Astar]

I think Nabakov's "Lolita" started the trend of under 12 for the female in the U.S. Before that novel was written, you rarely saw any main female characters in erotic novels under the age of 16 or so. I think Lolita is a lousy novel and Nabakov is probably the most over-rated novelist who ever wrote. They're what I call "teasers" in writing. They give you a glimpse of an ankle and make such a big deal out of it--like they're showing nudity or something. The age of consent in the U.S.in writing should be around the time of late puberty;i.e. 14 or so.

[Peter Smythe]

16 is a perfect age - age of consent in the UK - Is an age where it is still experimental and developmental - youth excites and is so sensual and erotic

[lookinforward]

The age of consent varies not only in different states and countries, but through cultures, as pointed out. What might be legal one place is illegal in another. The problem I foresee with too low of an age of consent is some adults take advantage of young people. While some young people may seem very mature in their thinking and life experiences, they have not formulated what is really important to them morally. The younger the age, the easier it is to make that decision for them. The easier it is to influence their standards. Meaning talk them, or buy them, into something they really might not want to do.

As much as I hate to see Governmental agencies set standards to issues of morality, sometimes it is the only way to keep young people safe. All to often, hormones rule the behavior of young people. We all know that these teenage raging hormones can make or at least entice young people to try, things they normally would not do. Between immature thought processes, hormones, peer pressure, and chemical substance abuse be it drugs or alcohol, young people can be made or talked into almost anything. So we need to set these age standards that tell all people.. back off! They are too young. Give them a few more years to decide how they want to live.

[Brigit Astar]

Biological and psychological fact : the female is still developing even up to age 16 and sometimes older than that. That's the rationale behind waiting to make most things legal until 21--or at least 18. It's different of course in writng erotic fiction--where you can use a lot of exaggeration and still be believable.

[Marlene38EE]

Biological and psychological fact : the female is still developing even up to age 16 and sometimes older than that. That's the rationale behind waiting to make most things legal until 21--or at least 18. It's different of course in writng erotic fiction--where you can use a lot of exaggeration and still be believable.

Which is one of the reasons Brianna isn't being allowed to rush into Motherhood even though she's 20 Yrs old. Husband has told her that the earliest she'll be considered a 'Mare' is 24.
Also, we'd like for her to have some fun with Life first, roam, explore and enjoy it!!

[Pale Rider]

Yes....Fun......as it should be because we are only young once, well at least in my case

[Pale Rider]

I can think of many who would have choosen the path of least resistance, my hats off to you sir.:icon127:

[Pale Rider]

It would seem that they are both in "good hands". It's said that hell hath fury like a woman scorned; I beg to differ with the statement for a Man will know no boundaries in the pursuit of protecting the possessions of his "heart". and I do mean" no boundries"...:grim:

[Pale Rider]

:icon075: :icon075:

[Glacialis]

I think children should be protected from adult sexual desires. Defining a legal age of consent is the only way to do this even though it is not a perfect system. There are 11-12 year olds mature enough to know that they want to have sex as there are 19 year olds that are too childish to make that decision. In a matter like this law makers can't be grading on a scale. Defining a legal age of consent is something that has to be done and the system in use is the best law makers have come up so far. In my opinion countries where children can be married and forced to perform their marital duties despite their own will are barbaric and utterly condemnable. Shame on them. "Culture" isn't an excuse for rape.

To give some background information, here in Finland legal age of consent is 16. Kids under sixteen can have sex with each other as much as they want but a person over sixteen can't have sex with a person under sixteen without breaking the law. But the judges are allowed to use common sense. There have been 17-19 year olds prosecuted for being in sexual relationships with 14-15 year olds but if the court establishes that both participants were willing and there's no great difference in their psychological maturity, they don't throw the book at them. But if there's proof of a mature person manipulating a more immature person to comply, the deviant prosecuted will also be convicted.

[Marlene38EE]

I think children should be protected from adult sexual desires. Defining a legal age of consent is the only way to do this even though it is not a perfect system. There are 11-12 year olds mature enough to know that they want to have sex as there are 19 year olds that are too childish to make that decision. In a matter like this law makers can't be grading on a scale. Defining a legal age of consent is something that has to be done and the system in use is the best law makers have come up so far. In my opinion countries where children can be married and forced to perform their marital duties despite their own will are barbaric and utterly condemnable. Shame on them. "Culture" isn't an excuse for rape.

To give some background information, here in Finland legal age of consent is 16. Kids under sixteen can have sex with each other as much as they want but a person over sixteen can't have sex with a person under sixteen without breaking the law. But the judges are allowed to use common sense. There have been 17-19 year olds prosecuted for being in sexual relationships with 14-15 year olds but if the court establishes that both participants were willing and there's no great difference in their psychological maturity, they don't throw the book at them. But if there's proof of a mature person manipulating a more immature person to comply, the deviant prosecuted will also be convicted.

You point out, and very well, what a complex issue it truly is.
I don't think it'll ever have a simple 'good' answer...like a hydra, it seems to have too many heads.

[Pale Rider]

I think children should be protected from adult sexual desires. Defining a legal age of consent is the only way to do this even though it is not a perfect system. There are 11-12 year olds mature enough to know that they want to have sex as there are 19 year olds that are too childish to make that decision. In a matter like this law makers can't be grading on a scale. Defining a legal age of consent is something that has to be done and the system in use is the best law makers have come up so far. In my opinion countries where children can be married and forced to perform their marital duties despite their own will are barbaric and utterly condemnable. Shame on them. "Culture" isn't an excuse for rape.

To give some background information, here in Finland legal age of consent is 16. Kids under sixteen can have sex with each other as much as they want but a person over sixteen can't have sex with a person under sixteen without breaking the law. But the judges are allowed to use common sense. There have been 17-19 year olds prosecuted for being in sexual relationships with 14-15 year olds but if the court establishes that both participants were willing and there's no great difference in their psychological maturity, they don't throw the book at them. But if there's proof of a mature person manipulating a more immature person to comply, the deviant prosecuted will also be convicted.

too bad we seem to no longer have that kind of common sense here.

[Marlene38EE]

too bad we seem to no longer have that kind of common sense here.

Common sense, isn't as common as folks think or suggested by it's name...

[Brigit Astar]

In a way, the Victorians were much smarter than we are. They realized that people need restraints. If you let everything be legal, pretty soon you've got a frigging mess on your hands.

[DuzCuz]

It's not just the age of consent that is the issue we will see addressed in the next few years. It is the whole matter of the state's intrusion between parents and their children. We are about due for a reaction to the excessive persecution going on everyday by ignorant bureaucrats. Unfortunately, the more intelligent and responsible bureaucrats and the children they genuinely help will suffer from the over reaction. It was about 20 years ago when Colorado saw 35% of their voters approve a state Constitutional amendment that stated that the State has no right to interfere with how parents chooses to raise their children. I fear that today a cleverly worded amendment accomplishing that goal would pass in a majority of states these days. What then?

Just look at some of those TV shows with toddlers made up and dressed and taught to behave like glamour queens. It doesn't take much imagination to figure what some parents would be willing to do with their kids for money or even just some sort of personal gratification.

We as a people don't really seem to care about finding the middle ground because the middle ground requires intelligent people be in charge who can make reasonable decisions based on the circumstances. When someone tries to follow the circumstances and make intelligent decisions we hear "Oh, that's discrimination or profiling or whatever the current buzzword is for the day." One size fits all and that's it. No tolerance! But that door swings both ways and that door always swings in a democracy.

[espana]

In an earler post I made a mistake claming the Spanish age of consent as 14 in fact its 13. Speaking to my daughter and some of her friends of both sexs the subject of age and consent was to my surprise something that they had thought about and discussed.
On asking why this issue was robustley discussed within there age group the answer was that foriegn tourists of there own age often ask about there parents reaction to older boyfreinds and why the fact that the degree of self determination given at a very early age did not lead to profligate sexual encounters.
The answer given to those questions seems to be that sex is an open subject within the family structure with no subject looked on as taboo for discusion, to my surpise most of the girls in the group had spoken with there mothers and grandmothers openly about contraception and there sexual experiences or lack of.
Most of the boys where introduced to contraception at an extremley young age by there mothers who often bought them condoms from the local supermarket, [I often wondered why some shopping trolleys contained 10 or 12 packs now I know]

[Brigit Astar]

An interesting fact: the fewer females there are in a culture or society, the lower the age of consent will be.

[kaidman]

this is quite the loaded issue in countries like japan they have an age of consent of I believe its 16 or 15 yet they make having sex so accessable with places like love hotels that are sometimes so autonomous that middle schoolers can get a room just by pushing a button on a machine and having a key drop like some vending machine however the point is that you give too much freedom for anything and the people don't know when enough is enough while giving too little freedom makes them repressed which opens pandoras box of problems
also did you know that the military has rules governing sex that states any form of sex that is not vaginal is prohibited and sex with a minor may result in the death penalty for any military personel in the US which may explain why some soldiers act crazy when on leave
I truely wish the world could find a middle ground but it seems that everyone has this desire to be right themselves and any other veiw is wrong

[swappy]

Here is a good website that is pretty comprehensive....http://www.ageofconsent.com/ageofconsent.htm

wow... all i have to say is wow...

[TheExodu5]

16 seems fine with me, though only with someone in relatively close proximity in terms of age (maybe 20 at a maximum?).

[PaPa_Wolf]

Age of Consent

I believe that the age of consent is something that should be stricken from all statues of law. There are a number of reasons I believe this is so.

To begin with, there is no greater potential tyranny that exists than from those laws promoted and passed for a good cause. Inevitably such laws are never reviewed nor are their consequences evaluated either before or after the effect because they are initially intended for a good cause. The tyranny of the most grievous dictator pales beside these “good cause” laws. One such case is the age of consent. The purpose of this is to protect children; what better purpose could there possibly be?

To begin with, let us look at some basic principles of law, or rather, justice. Justice contends that all laws should and need be applied equally without prejudice or bias, regardless of ethnicity, gender, age or social status. Justice contends that equal protection should be applied to all in the eyes of the law in the idea that protection from the effects of law should not be offered to some while denied to others. Justice contends that the process under which administration of law occurs should be neutral regarding the accused versus the accuser, with neither side being favored nor handicapped.

At the most basic of definition, rape is a sexual activity which occurs without the consent of one of the participants.

It should be noted that the passing of any law does not stop that activity which the law addresses. The era of Prohibition displays this fact for all to see. Passing a law against the smoking of marijuana has in no manner stopped anyone who smokes marijuana from smoking it. A posted speed limit does not stop anyone who exceeds it from doing so. All the passage of a law does is providing punishment for a violator of the law after the fact. It may be argued that a particular law stops some from breaking that law for fear of punishment, but it can also be argued that fear of punishment is not sufficient to stop those who do violate the law.

Yet, age of consent laws do not make sexual activity against the law. All they do is trivialize other laws that exist for a worthwhile purpose. Age of consent at its most basic is the concept that no one under a particular age is legally able to offer consent to a sexual act. It does not in manner or form address any other issues, such as who initiates the activity, whether in reality both parties did consent to the activity, or where in any condition to legally give consent because of other reasons. If a sexual activity occurs and one or more of the participants is under the age of consent, that sexual activity becomes rape, regardless of circumstances surrounding it. Again, rape is sexual activity that occurs without consent of one of the participants. Since one who is under the age of consent is legally prohibited from offering consent, it becomes rape.

The purposes for enacting such laws are given as preventing an older individual from taking advantage of younger children, to prevent someone older from providing or enticing such children into prostitution, to reduce teenage pregnancy, to prevent sexually transmitted diseases among teens and younger children, and so on. Yet all of these conditions which the age of consent is supposed to prevent occur and they occur at a level which neither is reduced nor eliminated. In fact about the only thing that the age of consent statues manage to achieve with any regularity is the creation of criminals and the escalation of minor incidents to major criminal status.

Take the case of a 15 year old boy (15b) and a fifteen year old girl (15g) who are dating, go out to a movie, have sex, and then go home. In the case of adults, such activity is considered to be little more than normal, as long as both are consenting. However in the case of 15b and 15g, both are made criminals. They are not guilty of having sex, but rather of being rapists. Rape is a sexual activity which occurs when one or more of the participants have not given consent. In this case, both individuals are legally barred from being able to give consent. Strictly speaking, 15b is guilty of raping 15g. 15g is guilty of raping 15b. Both may be prosecuted as being a rapist. This so because nothing in the age of consent statues address the circumstance of the sexual activity, who initiated the sexual activity, or whether the sexual activity was in any way consensual to both parties.

It becomes worse when there is a disparity in the ages. Take the case of a boy who is 15 (15b) and a girl who is 17 (17g) when the age of consent is 16. 17g is a rapist. 15b is legally prevented from consenting to the sexual act, even though it may very well be possible that he was the one who initiated it. It can become worse in the case where 15b actually rapes 17g. 17g may be prosecuted as a rapist, even though she is the victim of rape, because the age of consent prevents 15b from giving any form of consent to the act, even though he was the initiator and 17g refused to give consent to the act. The age of consent does not recognize the circumstances or any conditions under which the sexual act occurs. It merely states that anyone under the age of consent is legally barred from giving consent. If any form of sexual activity occurs, consent was not present in anything that person under the age of consent says, does, or implies, and rape is the result.

Now in some places, there are efforts to address this issue, the so called “Romeo and Juliet” laws in which the ages are near enough to the same so as to circumvent the provisions of the age of consent. In at least one case, this led to a boy becoming a sexual offender because he engaged in oral sex with his underage girlfriend rather than vaginal sex. Vaginal sex was covered under the provisions of the “Romeo and Juliet” proviso, oral sex was not.

Age of consent laws exist to protect children, yet is there any protection in the above? Are the rights of those under the age of consent equally protected under the law? An incident which at worst (15b and 15g) should be a matter for the parents or guardians of those involved to determine the course of discipline is escalated to a matter of criminal status because of the age of consent provisions.

As the age of consent rises, so do the potential number of prosecutions. Obviously not every case is going to be prosecuted. In fact it is often stated that “we are not going to prosecute a case of young love.” Yet all this does is lead to a state of selective prosecution. No longer does the law apply equally to all without prejudice or bias. Whether or not a case is to be prosecuted becomes a matter of choice and it becomes open to the possibility of prosecution because of bias or prejudice on the part of those who do the prosecution. A prosecutor may choose to proceed because that prosecutor does not like one of the participants, because they have a bias against one of the participants due to ethnicity, social status or financial status. There is no equal level of protection against the possibility of prosecution of any participants, because prosecution is at the whim of the prosecutor.

There is also the problem of the shifting of responsibility from one of the participants to another. Take the case of a much older participant. One such case might revolve around a teacher and student. Suppose that a boy of 15 (15g) decides he wishes to have sex with a married woman of 30 (30w). 15b makes 30w aware of this desire, but she says no. 15b then says, “It does not matter. All I have to do is tell someone that we had sex and you are toast.” Sex occurs. This is a case of coercive sex, which is also rape, because one participant withholds consent, but is coerced into proceeding anyway. Yet because of the provisions of the age of consent, this does not matter. 30w is a rapist. 15b can plan and implement the plan of blackmailing 30w into sex and if caught, 30w is the rapist although 30w is very obviously a victim. Age of consent does not take any circumstances or conditions regarding the sexual activity into account, only the age of the participants.

In a similar manner, in the case of an older participant, the very severe consequences of sexual activity with someone under the age of consent can cause the activity to be a case of “silent rape”. “If anyone finds out what we have done (are doing), I am going to go to jail, lose my job, lose everything of value to me and you will be responsible for it happening.” If it should it be that the younger participant does have reason to care about what happens to the older participant, this is a very strong incentive to remain silent.

Age of consent laws, as indeed are any laws intended to regulate morality, are inherently impossible to properly enforce. Compare them to laws regulating the killing of another individual, for example. It is recognized that there are differing circumstances and intent involved in the issue. There is a difference between murder 1 and murder 2, between murder and manslaughter, between murder and self-defense. Yet morality laws do not so differentiate. The only possible defense against someone accused of violating the age of consent provisions is that the sex did not take place. Whether or not the case was consensual does not apply. Whether or not one of the participants was of a condition to offer consent or not does not apply. If the sexual activity did occur, any one so engaged is guilty. There are no provisions which differentiate between a simple case of young love and premeditated rape. The only option is whether to prosecute or not. That option is open to any manner of manipulation.

There is a case in which an older man was asked to occasionally watch a younger girl. One of the parents of the girl was known to want to possess some land owned by this older man. There had been repeated offers made to buy the land, which were refused. The parents of the girl went to the authorities stating that their daughter had sex with this older man, who in turn was prosecuted. He continued to insist that he did not have sex with that girl and the only evidence in his favor was that he passed a polygraph (lie detector test). For a period of years this issue drug on, with the man forced to hire expensive lawyers to defend him. How was he able to pay for this? Ultimately he had to sell the land in question. The land was bought, at a substantial discount, by a brother-in-law of the parent of making the accusations. It should be noted that shortly after this happened, the accusations against the man faded away. However, long afterwards, that man was known as “that man who raped that little girl,” even though the case ultimately never went to court.

Age of consent laws do not offer any protection against the manipulation of children, are not subject to the legal concept of equal protection under the law, only exist to create more criminals and law breakers, and achieve nothing beyond soothing the consciences of those who believe they are doing something to protect children.

Why then do they exist?

[singleot]

It's pretty plane and simple people, the age of consent should be set at an age where a person, male or female should be old enough to deal with the consequences of having sex if they become pregnant or contract something. It has nothing to do with your libidos. Generally, people under the age of 18 don't have the maturity to handle these situations. that's why so many of them end up alone on the streets when these things happen to them.

[SEVERUSMAX]

I would recommend the following legal course for states, bearing in mind that, constitutionally, each state has the right to set its own age of consent (though if unreasonable, it could be invalidated by the courts as violating the right to privacy).

1. Oral intercourse. Legal 13-16 with protection.
2. Anal intercourse. Legal 15-18 with protection.
3. Vaginal intercourse. Legal 16-18 with extra protection (both condom, with spermicide, AND some sort of female contraceptive, backed up by the morning after pill). This, of course, would only affect straight couples, since same-sex couples couldn't produce children.
4. No prostitution whatsoever until an age somewhere between 18-20, and even then with strong regulations to prevent the prostitutes being trafficking or enslaved by pimps.
5. No marriage until 16. Protection rules to be relaxed for married couples, with caveat that older partner should be willing to help spouse complete education. If both underage, parents should act to prevent dropping out. This would not affect same-sex couples as much, of course, due to there being no risk of pregnancy with them. Same-sex marriage should be legal, anyway, but again only at 16 like straight marriage. No one has any business making such a decision when they are too young to even drive, gay or straight.
6. 18 and above, everything legal with consent.


Nevada has it ass backwards, I believe. Its age of consent for vaginal is lower than the one for anal. As long as protection for STDs is there, I believe that anal intercourse should have a lower threshold than vaginal, since no pregnancy can result. Just my take on it. However, they are a sovereign state. They have the authority to set such rules and standards under the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution.

As for sex tourism, that's a tough cookie. The regime might well be corrupt, but the feds have no lawful jurisdiction outside U.S. soil, even over U.S. citizens (except in the armed forces). If they believe that the tourist is indeed practicing "sex tourism", however, they should co-operate with the states to seek a warrant to see if they can catch him at home. Odds are, he might not always be as careful at home as one might think. Despite their intentions, such predators don't always have the self-control to restrain their urges even that long.

Bear in mind that I don't always write it this way in my stories, but that is only fiction, not reality.

[Rob92]

Here in the UK. anyone under 16 can have sex with anyone they want aslong as they are under 16 too. Other than that it is considered illegal but the legal age on consent is 16 here.

[singleot]

Age of consent laws aren't made to protect those teens that are mature enough and strong willed enough to protect themselves, they are for those children that can't. And any law that has exceptions built into it is worthless. If a lawyer can say, "Well, if you do it this way, you can have this 12 year old." to his rich client, then there is no protection. If a doctor can step up and say little Becky is mature enough, there will always be a Dr. willing to sell the service. The only way you protect any child is to protect them all. Granted children still have sex and the rate of abuse is awful, but the law sets a consequence and it needs to be uncompromising.

[jonbick234]

Very interesting discussions. this topic has intrigue me in the past and still does. I didn't know that the age for consents different in different US states. I thought it was 18 across the board. Shows how much I get out and about.

[espana]

The physical age of sexual maturity had been falling in most developed countrys with an average age of 12 for both sexes acording to world health studies documenting ages as low as 9 years old.
So sexual maturity at 12 and ages of consent varying from 13 to 18 and at least in two cases 21.
Do we need the same sort of studies to look at mental acuity , we would probably find to most adults dismay that in most cases our children can make up there own minds

In my experience if parents discuss in an open and honest manner sex and its consequences with there children from a very early age there children will have little problem with sexual decisions, we as parents mite not like those decisions but they will be informed decisions , yet again experience tells me that those children that I have come across with serious problems got littel or no sexual guidance at home or from the society around them,
It says something when our children are more likley to get usefull information in drivers education than they are in sex ed , The world is changing we have to change with it and that includes a serious look at our laws on consent without religous constraint.

[Novice]

Tell to the enemy. The enemy is already is meant to be killed so he can rape enemy soldiers

[justinInaam]

As for Islam, homosexuality is not allowed in Islam nor it is allowed in any other Religion. A Religion never allow such things.
as for death penalty on sex in Islam, it is only for married people who involved in sex with other than their partners. either it is man or women. penalty for unmarried people involving in sex is 50 or 70 whips or now 3 to 4 years in jail however in case of rape or abuse the penalty is Death either married or not

[Reddy]

Your point is well expressed.

[DuzCuz]

Actually, the age of consent laws in the US were passed because politicians were bullied into passing them by ignorant self-righteous people more concerned with stroking their own egos than actually protecting anyone. Age of consent laws protect far more parents from their duties and responsibilities of sexual and emotional education of their children than they ever protect children from unwanted sexual activities. In the US, age of consent laws are based mostly on false assumptions and very little on reality.

But then most sex between older males and younger pubescent girls is also based on false assumptions by the male about the emotional and physical maturity of the young girls. I'm not so sure there is the same disparity when it is between younger pubescent boys and older women. But that may have more to do with the difference between the general public's perception and acceptance of a stud verses a slut. But this is another subject which can also be thoroughly investigated.

[Gerbil]

Not really wanting to necro, but I saw that the OP made a factually incorrect error. The legal age in Colombia is 14 for girls if you are over 16, and if there is a significant age gap and the girl is below 16, there are provisions for prosecuting as well.
Essentially to prevent older guys taking advantage. Interestingly, I'm not sure of the rules for boys with older women, but I've certainly never heard of anyone being prosecuted.

[espana]

first law on age of consent was in 1275 it set it at 14 for all acts outside marrige lower if married

[DuzCuz]

PaPa_Wolf on page 1 has a great article on the subject. He makes an excellent point and backs it up with well thought out arguments.
I have said for decades that the only purpose age of consent laws serve is to put more people in jail and leave them under the tyrants thumb for the rest of their lives. Consider this, children as young as 12 have been tried as adults in our courts for various crimes. But when it comes to sex, they have no mind of their own until they have that magical birthday and then they are suddenly grown up? Get real people. If they are old enough to be considered mature enough to be subject to being tried as an adult, they are old enough to make decisions about participating in sexual activity. Even without any age of consent laws, people/children are protected. Rape is still rape. The only difference would be that without AoC laws, police, prosecutors, judges, and juries would have to actually do some work and maybe even truly earn their money. Each case would be judged on it own distinctive and exclusive merits.

The Tree of Liberty must occasionally be watered with the blood of tyrants. Our Tree in this country is looking more thirsty every day.

[groomleader]

Where I used to live, the age for consent for girls used to be 14. I remember a case very well, in my city, of a Mom trying to bring charges against her 14 year old daughter's boyfriend, he was almost twice her age, at 27. The police told her, sorry, if she consents to sexual relations with him, it's legal. Cases like that led to a new law that raised the age of consent to 16 for girls.

[dragonsclaw]

This is a very emotive subject, but I know a lot of my daughters school friends at the age of sixteen had been having regular sex with their boyfriends before then. I have noticed that at sixteen some of her friends are able to understand what they are doing and can make good decisions about having sex or not, but on the other hand there are also several of her friends that I consider, even at the age of sixteen are not capable of understanding about having sex! I can understand that governments have to set an age of consent, but I am not sure that sixteen is old enough.