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What's the objective line by which someone can grant "consent"? |
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Dr. Diana Hsieh addressed this issue in a Philosophy in Action podcast: Statutory Rape Laws There's a lot in the discussion to consider but she writes that her answer is in brief:
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I assume by statutory rape you mean where the issue of lack of consent is determined solely by the objective criterion of the person's age, as opposed to the person's subjective state of mind?
I don't know that the problem is that they are non-objective, but our rape laws in general, and statutory rape laws in particular, tend to be a hacked up compromise of many different views on women, and sex, and consent. If you don't know the historical development of rape laws, it's quite illuminating on this.
This is particularly evident in the so-called "Romeo and Juliet laws", where the ability of a (for example) 16-year-old to consent is statutorily determined by the age of the partner.