Under age sex.
There is a big debate going on in Ireland at present about under age sex and potential changes in the law. The whole idea appears to be that young people should be protected against sex (?) and should not be having sex, esp with older adults. This conversation does though center around men having sex with young girls, not the other way around.
It is interesting to listen to some of the comments and see the current view. Boys are prosecuted for having sex with under age girls even if both are under age. A window upon how our society views the male female relationships.
Moving on though, I had an idea this morning, more than likely not original. However, children know not to steal, use drugs, murder. They know that if they do this they will suffer at the blind hand of the law. Fair enough one would think. But if children buy alcohol knowing they are not allowed to, knowing they are making someone else cause an offence, they cannot and will not be prosecuted. Strange eh?
Taking the logic further, steal go to court - buy alcohol, got to court. Fair, no says the law, buy alcohol the seller goes to court. Try this one. Have sex while you are sixteen with your boyfriend of seventeen, get caught, he can be charged, can go to jail, can have a criminal record for ever, but the girl nothing. In fact someone can be engaged in an act willingly that will criminalize the other person and leave them completely unharmed, in the blind sight of the law.
Perhaps it is time to tell teenagers, both sexes, that should they break the law there will be consequences for them. If the intention is to stop teenagers having sex before they are a certain again, criminalise it. Please don’t think me harsh, but if the intention of these laws are only to stop teenagers having sex together, this is the way to go. I would ask for two very large caveats, first that jail should never be an option, community service or such; second any record that the young person has is automatically expunged at say twenty one. But one must ask what have we these laws for? To stop young people having sex? Will any law stop this? Did it stop you? Or perhaps education may be a more realistic long term answer.
I am not taking here of child abuse, or adults that pray on young children or teenagers; only the situation of teenagers that are having sex with each other. Additionally I do not think that a defence of “I though she was…” If you are a man over say twenty you know better, and should be completely responsible. But it is really gray and very hard to criminalise a young man up to this point. If there is more than two/ three years of a difference in age, do something, again though for the hardliners this sounds like an approval, the okay to two fifteen year old to have sex.
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