Statutory rape and similar laws are written to protect children from abuse by older, predatory partners, teenagers. Any sexual activity involving teens and children under the age of consent is considered rape, even when both partners are willing.
Many different terms exists for such charges like Sex Abuse and Rape among others. It only exists to protect the minors from sexual abuse by older persons. Sexual relationships with a minor is illegal and punishments can range from community service to death penalty.
State laws differ on the age of consent, their sentences also vary according to the age difference between partners. A statutory rape conviction as an adult can mean jail or prison time, and the requirement that they register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives.
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. The statutory rape law forbids sexual relations with minors under 16 which is intended to protect young people from genuine assault and exploitation. But in the real world, teenagers frequently have consensual sex with other teenagers.
Victims trafficked into prostitution and pornography are usually involved in the most exploitive forms of commercial sex operations. Sex traffickers frequently subject their victims to debt-bondage, an illegal practice in which the traffickers tell their victims that they owe money and that they must pledge their personal services to repay the debt.
Also increasingly the age of consent laws of a state are applied not only to acts committed on its own territory, but also acts committed by its nationals or inhabitants on foreign territory. Sex trafficking is nothing less than slavery. When an offender takes a woman or girl against her will and forces her to engage in prostitution, that offender has stolen her freedom and her dignity.
Victims of sex trafficking can be women or men, girls or boys, but the majority are women and girls. A common misconception is that trafficking only occurs in poor countries. But every country in the world is involved in the underground, lucrative system.
August 1, 2010 by Wendy Smith