I am not talking about just having sex with a 16 year old, but paying to have sex with a 16 year old.
And no, not mature enough for that decision to charge for sex. Their brain is still developing and their decisions are not fully functional yet.
That said, i am leaving this thread, really want no part of he debate anymore as its more of an opinion and not into hearing about 40 year old men having sex with 16 year old girls and people not thinking this is wrong.
My daughter will be 14 years old in February, so I'm not coming at this from a predatory standpoint - I'm coming at it from a realistic, pragmatic, and experienced standpoint.
When my daughter is 16, she needs to be mature enough to understand sexuality and make decisions and if she's not then that's a problem.
What I've discussed with her mother, and her mother is on the same page, is that if she makes decisions to have sex - all we ask is that she's safe, and understanding of that fact that we will do everything we can to be understanding and supportive.
We've told our daughter that abstinence is complete bullshit, and that sexuality is a natural and progressive part of any relationship. But that sexuality is something to be reserved in youth and practiced with care in adulthood.
There does not need to be secrets, pregnancies (what happened with her mother and I when her mother was 16), etc. Were we mature enough to make decisions about child bearing at that age? No, of course not. But the point that's being missed is that
we were having sex regardless, and no law was going to stop that.
So the question becomes, at what age does the state step in and declare, this person is so young that we should criminalize intercourse. And personally, I think 16 is a reasonable cutoff. That doesn't mean a 15 year old can't make an intelligent decision, but it means that the state can exercise the right to step in in situations that are one-sided and
without consent. That's really what this needs to be about. Consent.
And to say, well, this person isn't wise enough, or mature enough to do x,y or z with their body - that can be extended to many things other than sex; including abortions, contraceptive, medical decisions, etc.
Beyond that, I'm not sure the last time you were clubbing, or in a bar, or generally just cruising for ass, but real talk, it's not difficult to end up in bed with a girl you met in a bar (a bar that cards), and she says (after sex) "umm, yeah, I'm 18." That's happened to me - more than once, and to say, well,
what if she was 17 and she's just lying - she lied to get into the bar - now I'm looking at going on a sex registry? What kind of sense does this make?
I just think these laws are questionable at best, and really need to focus on the ability to consent to having intercourse, and having some bare minimum age where society deems a person to be too young to legally participate. Again, like others have said, I think 16 is a reasonable age of sexual and personal maturity such that if this person has sex with someone, that someone shouldn't be hauled off to prison as a "rapist."