Banjofrog

Read 'The Trauma Myth' by Susan Clancy - most children enjoy doing sex, society makes them feel bad about it afterwards. If something is harmless there is no justification for its prohibition.

What evidence have you that sex with children results in psychological harm? I made it quite clear I was talking about consensual sex. Do laws not need to be justified? Is it acceptable for actions to be criminalized for no reason? Perhaps we should criminalize being gay or black people going to the same schools as whites. Of course, we decide many things for them. What they eat, what religion they have, when they go to bed - why not decide how they learn about sex? Not true. Sex should only be criminalized if it results in harm. Do you realize that in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain the drinking age is 16? Of course these nations have far fewer alcohol related problems than the USA. When people are made responsible for there actions they behave responsibly, when (as in the USA) you treat people like babies until they are 21 they behave like babies. Kids will drink alcohol whether you want them to or not - the only choice society has is if they drink in a bar or on the streets (where they are more likely to commit or be victims of crime). America is certainly not a good example - your teenagers impregnate each other (because they are under 18 and legally considered asexual babies who mustn't be educated about sex), your war on drugs is counter productive, and you are generally obnoxious.

And if not why not? Most people agree that actions which harm others are wrong, but many actions are illegal which do not harm anyone and are known as victimless crimes. How can society justify criminalizing having sex with kids if it doesn't hurt anyone? Many assume that a child will be 'traumatized' by having sex with an adult, however this is not true. Firstly ages of consent vary across the world (from 13 in Spain to 18 in California) - proof that there is no consensus on what the minimally acceptable age at which a person can engage in sex is. Secondly much of the 'trauma' (guilt, shame, victimization) felt by 'victims' is in fact caused by society, such as in the case of Africa's 'Witch Children', many of whom genuinely believe they are 'witches' - not because they are but because they have been told they are. Suppose a child has consensual safe-sex with an adult in a society where this is permitted (and therefore not immoral/taboo etc). In what way would the child be harmed?