Suntzu wrote:Is a 13 year old willing screwing some old guy the same as a guy attacking a hapless woman ripping off her clothes and brutually having sex with her? We used to call what happened to the first one statutory rape and the second forceable rape. They are obviously different. The innocent 13 year old had already been fucking here 17 year old boyfriend. Was that rape, too?
Yep. Both are rape.
Both are different types of it though.
A 13 year can be easily manipulated into "agreeing" and being "consentually" abused by an Adult.
It is a non-violent form of rape.
It was considered undesirable behaviour as far back as medieval times, though technically legal at the time. That's the real reason why Parents often arranged marriages in those days. Often to protect the child from being manipulated into legally stating they were married to a far older person whom had psychological power over them. Ensure they married someone more age ppropriate (even if it was an 18 year old marrying a 12 year old girl still better than a 45 year old man) or that was a trustworthy friend.
All that was required for a legal marriage is for both Bride and Groom to say they were married. So parents had to help their children marry responsibly.