Does statutory rape really cause damage to the victim? (illegal, FBI, 18 year old)

[Lizita]

There was a thread here a few days ago where the topic of statutory rape came up. Some posters thought that statutory rape is a serious crime that has far reaching implications for the victim. This seems to be a belief that a lot of people hold - that the young person is damaged for life from their experience. I really wonder if that is generally the case though or if statutory rape laws really have more to do with society's view on sex than the implications for the "victim". Is a 14-15-year old girl really harmed by having a sexual relationship with an 18-19-year old boy or even an older man? Why would it be more damaging for a 15-year old to have sex with a 20-year old than another 15-year old?
Also, if statutory rape is damaging to the younger person is it different for boys and girls? There has been a lot of talk about the female teachers who have had sex with male students and some seem to be of the opinion that the boys are harmed by the experience while others argue that they are just living every teenage boy's dream to have sex with the teacher. You never hear that argument when it comes to girls though. They are always victims and considered to have been taken advantage of. Couldn't some of the girls be living their dream to have sex with an older, sexy guy?

What do you think? Are the teenagers damaged victims or willing participants who are just fine with it?

[dr74]

Statutory rape is illegal sexual activity between two people when it would otherwise be legal if not for their age

In accordance with the FBI definition, statutory rape is characterized as non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is younger than the statutory age of consent. The actual ages for these laws vary greatly from state-to-state, as do the punishments for offenders.
Many states do not use the actual term "statutory rape," simply calling it rape or unlawful sexual penetration among a variety of other titles. These laws rarely apply only to intercourse, but rather to any type of sexual contact
What Is Statutory Rape? | Sexlaws.org

I have seen this acted on for males and females.
I agree it is used more for females than males then again the complaint is filed and heard more for young girls than males due to society, however this is not stating that it does not happen for males as has been observed in new papers i.e. female teacher's ect.
As for the I.E. "what is the difference between a 15 year old having sex with another 15 year old as opposed to a 15 year old with sn 18 year old or older?"
There is a huge curve, social learning gap between a 15 year old and a 18, 19, 20, 21 year old and older..As well as cognitive. The power of suggestion and persuasion, what do you not understand?
Teen Sexual Behavior Quick Facts | CitizenLink
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/208803.pdf

[thriftylefty]

having sex doesn't always have a good out come. I won't go into every thing that can go wrong as a result of sex but some people can be manipulated through sex. The part of our brain that is concerned with self preservation and protects us is not fully developed until we are approaching adulthood. There are a of a number of things that society has concluded that if we engage in it while we are too young it increase the possibility of us having a bad out come.

[markg91359]

I also think it depends on the individuals. A really grey area. But why is it acceptable (and even encouraged) for, say, a 40 year old man to have sex with an 18 year girl, but it's taboo for a 20 year old man to have sex with a 16 year old girl?

Its a good point, but it really comes down to the idea that a legislature has to draw the line somewhere when it passes a law. Prosecutors have discretion and just because a 20 year old had sex with a 16 year old, doesn't mean he has to file charges against him if he believes it was truly a thing involving mutual consent. These laws are often arbitrary and can result in some injustice unless they are applied carefully.

They are necessary laws though because we've become increasingly aware as a society that some men (and a few women) are sexual predators. Predators will deliberately seek out situations involving young, vulnerable people, who have not yet developed their judgment and reasoning abilities to the point necessary to protect themselves. Predators will always use the defense that "this person consented". Their idea of consent is the victim not actively resisting as they have sex with them.

[dr74]

Originally Posted by markg91359

Its a good point, but it really comes down to the idea that a legislature has to draw the line somewhere when it passes a law. Prosecutors have discretion and just because a 20 year old had sex with a 16 year old, doesn't mean he has to file charges against him if he believes it was truly a thing involving mutual consent. These laws are often arbitrary and can result in some injustice unless they are applied carefully.

They are necessary laws though because we've become increasingly aware as a society that some men (and a few women) are sexual predators. Predators will deliberately seek out situations involving young, vulnerable people, who have not yet developed their judgment and reasoning abilities to the point necessary to protect themselves. Predators will always use the defense that "this person consented". Their idea of consent is the victim not actively resisting as they have sex with them.

Bingo. You stated a KEY word SEXUAL predators.
Not to go off topic however how many cases have not gained public knowledge where it involves children molesting other children? Point? Sometimes this mind set is already prevalent in the individual when even they are 18 and choose to prey on a 14 or 16 year old?

[murksiderock]

This is an extremely touchy subject, and I dont think we can or should broad-brush statuatory rape with general descriptions or punishments. Within each statuatory case, I think we have to individually weigh out the facts and characteristics. There is certainly people (male AND female) that are sexual predators, and have the traits of such as young as 15 or 16, so yes, it is definitely logical that an 18-20 yr old can be preying and taking advantage of a 16-17 yr old. I think the flip side of that though, is that many 18-21 yr old KIDS who are charged with statuatory arent sexual predators, and better investigations and mental diagnoses will keep us from defining those type of kids with this label. No, I dont believe any 20-21 yr old has any business with a 14-15 yr old; but a 20-21 yr old with a 17, even maybe some 16 yr olds doesnt make them pedophiles....

I think what isnt takin into account is the cognitive SIMILARITIES between 16-21 yr olds, especially in the lower socioeconomic class. Many 18-21 year old boys and girls still associate with "underage" teenagers (15-17) in their everyday activities from mall surfing to video games to underage drinking and smoking pot. Again, the similarities are phased out significantly when comparing 14-15 to 20-21 yr olds; not so much in between....

My male cousin was 16 when he met his wife, who was 23. They had their child when he was 18, she 25. Now, mine and my family's immediate reaction was why would a mid-20s woman with one child already want a high-schooler? It still repulses me, but in this situation, I've come to believe that she isnt nor was any more mentally stable or mature than my cousin. This of course opens the door to many other possibilities that could plague this young woman, but I dont really feel that she was using or taking advantage of my cousin, just that mentally they were/are in the same playground...

Yes, the males attract more attention and scrutiny, whether the guy is 18 or 50--but lets not kid ourselves, this issue of pedophilia, whether actual or perceived, is a larger problem amongst guys in America. Doesnt mean that we should downplay the women who behave just as questionably though...

My whole point is there is no way to accurately define statuatory rape, and who should or shouldnt be charged....

[yellowsnow]

When I moved in to my new home, one of the neighbors told me the guy next door was a sex offender. Time passed and I liked the guy next door, he was good to me and generally a good neighbor. He was always the first one to help me if I was struggling to carry something or doing yard work. Not just for me, but for everyone in the neighborhood. He was always helping someone. I think he is close to 60.

One day I just came out and asked him about it and he was convicted of statutory rape. Back in the early 70's he had just been discharged from the military and didn't know what to do with himself so he went to Wyoming to see his family. One night he went into a bar in a small town and saw an attractive woman at the bar, drinking and talking to the bartender. Because of what she was doing and where she was, he assumed she was of legal age. They started talking and he bought her some drinks and one thing led to another. He was arrested and charged 4 days later. Turned out the 'woman' was only 16 years old. He did his time in jail and has never been in any trouble since this incident.

During his trial it did come out that this young woman had had sexual relations with quite a few men she picked up in bars. It's impossible to say if she was 'damaged' by this behavior. We can say for sure she was lacking in parental supervision. There's a good chance she went on to live a normal life. Was she really a victim?

Well, the label of sex offender never goes away. And you never finish paying for your crime. The only times my neighbor has had a good job are the times he has not disclosed his conviction. Once he got to work for 7 years straight before his employer found out and fired him. If he hadn't been 'fooled' by a tipsy sixteen year old playing dressup in a bar, his whole life would have been different. He's bitter about it, but he takes it one day at a time and does the best he can. More than 35 years later, you can look on AlertId and the house next to mine is red and the caption says sex offender.

Who was the victim here?

[eskercurve]

I certainly think that teenagers do not have the mental maturity to consider their actions and potential repercussions like contracting STDs or getting pregnant. Their hormones are raging and don't think straight if they get into a mode. To be perfectly honest, a lot of adults don't either.

So there has to be laws to protect the young against older folks who are willing to take advantage of this fact. I personally believe that young teens cannot really understand why an adult would choose to be attracted to them or when it ends that it could end very badly for them.

It is unfortunate that there's some cases where a young one dupes an older fellow into sleeping with her or him, and I really do some leniency has to be had in the system to allow the "offenders" to have their record wiped.

[nimchimpsky]

The most important factor that goes into whether statutory rape is harmful is whether it was actually consensual for all parties involved. Consensual sex between two people, that because of their slight age difference, constitutes statutory rape, is completely different from a grown adult raping a young child, who cannot emotionally give consent. How much it affects someone varies from one person to the next, depending on everything from their emotional support network to their genetics.

[Visit a Library]

Originally Posted by Lizita

There was a thread here a few days ago where the topic of statutory rape came up. Some posters thought that statutory rape is a serious crime that has far reaching implications for the victim. This seems to be a belief that a lot of people hold - that the young person is damaged for life from their experience. I really wonder if that is generally the case though or if statutory rape laws really have more to do with society's view on sex than the implications for the "victim". Is a 14-15-year old girl really harmed by having a sexual relationship with an 18-19-year old boy or even an older man? Why would it be more damaging for a 15-year old to have sex with a 20-year old than another 15-year old?
Also, if statutory rape is damaging to the younger person is it different for boys and girls? There has been a lot of talk about the female teachers who have had sex with male students and some seem to be of the opinion that the boys are harmed by the experience while others argue that they are just living every teenage boy's dream to have sex with the teacher. You never hear that argument when it comes to girls though. They are always victims and considered to have been taken advantage of. Couldn't some of the girls be living their dream to have sex with an older, sexy guy?

What do you think? Are the teenagers damaged victims or willing participants who are just fine with it?

When I was 17 I was statutorily raped by an 18 year old girl. I still have mixed feelings about it, because as it turned out she'd been passed around a lot and I wasn't emotionally mature enough for somebody like her at the time. Ultimately I ended up with a broken heart that took a whole year to heal and to this day I don't like thinking back to our relationship.