There are a few problems with the current law on statutory rape. First of all the law is confusing. The current law is: "when someone of or over the age of consent has sex with someone below the age of consent, it is considered statutory rape." (http://www.loveandlearn.com/questions). What is the official age of consent? There isn't one; the age of consent varies from state to state. For example in Iowa it is 14 but in North Dakota it is 18 (http://www.ageofconsent.com). The second problem with the current law regarding statutory rape is that it gets a lot of young couples into major legal trouble. The third is that the current law does not give teens the freedom to make choices about their personal sexual relationships.
My proposal to fix these problems is to have a national age of consent of 16, and a 2 year buffer zone. Having a national age of consent would limit the confusion between state to state about the law dramatically.
Age of Consent (Virgin Steele album)
Age of Consent updated for Canada
Age of Consent NS americaThe buffer zone would prevent 18 year and 19 year olds from getting into legal trouble with their 16 and 17 year old partners. Also the buffer zone also gives those teens the freedom of choice they deserve.
In Henry L. Tischler's text book Introduction to Sociology he states "On the average, in a first marriage... the man tends to be about 2 years older than the woman." The idea to the buffer zone is that this 2 year age gap represents society as a general whole. Teens are apart of society so the age gap for consensual sex should apply to them also. Here's an example of how the buffer zone would work: an 18 year old can legally have sex with a 16 year old because it is within the 2...