Why does sex between an older person and a teenage minor was forbidden in the first place?

Well, the politics section is like a graveyard right now so I'll just ask this on this section with you fabulous people!





Keep in mind, I do not approve such a thing. But I was just wondering, why was it forbidden in the first place? Is it the sex? Is it the age gap? Is it the mentality of a teenage? Or something else?Why does sex between an older person and a teenage minor was forbidden in the first place?
teenage ';minor'; - you said it.Why does sex between an older person and a teenage minor was forbidden in the first place?
It has to do with when a culture accepts a person as being an adult.





In some cultures, it was as early as 12 or 13. For us, it's age 18 - 18 is the magical age where we are suddenly able to see clearly and make our own decisions (about everything except alcohol.) And therefore, we are able to decide whether we want to have sex or not. Under that age, we are still impressionable children, and so even if we think we want it, we're probably just being manipulated, so it's still akin to rape.





Of course, this is all a pretty legal fiction. In real life, it's utter bullsh*t - some people have the maturity and life experience to make their own decisions at age 11, while others shouldn't be trusted on their own until they're at least 30. The ';age of majority'; is not a one-size-fits-all thing. We don't suddenly gain any hidden wisdom on our 18th birthday.





However, it is beyond the scope of the legal system to do an in-depth analysis of every human being as they grow up and determine the exact moment when they become, in heart and mind, ';adult.'; So they pretty much have to pick a dividing line - and 18, the age at which most young people finish school and leave home, is as good an age as any.





Short version: Sex between consenting adults = good. Sex with children who don't understand the full implications = bad. Determining which is which during the teenage years = complicated. Deciding people are adult at age 18 = compromise.
I think that since the teenager in question is still considered a child, it's seen as a form of pedophilia, even if the ';child'; is seventeen years old and is basically old enough to make their own choices. Usually, the mentality of the teenager and their level of precociousness are not taken into account, and the whole thing just becomes a run-of-the-mill case of pedophilia or child molestation.
Well, you have to remember that, despite what teens do nowadays, sex is not considered something teens should have, period, by many societies. So it really does have to do with the mental and emotional maturity of teens, i.e. the idea that they can't fully understand and appreciate the consequences of having sex and emotionally are not ready for what our society says is attached to sex (like love, marriage, kids, etc).
Sex is something special resulted from the love between two people. The chances of minor understanding this is rare, and the chances of adult taking advantages of children is more often than what we thought. That is why we are protecting children until they came of age.
because it is thought that the 'older person' would use their influence over a teenager (who are mostly taught to respect their elders and authority figures) in order to get what they want and harm (emotionally/mentally) the teenager
I guess it's because many viewed it as corrupting the child's' innocence..
I'd say because most teenagers don't have the brain capacity to make a decision as big as whether or not they have sex logically.