"Adults could likewise go for their entire lives ( without ) sexual activity with little sign of physical harm,"

Beware.

In some dystopian future eugenics has chosen who will breed and all others are prevented. Ethan could have no possible objection on the basis of necessity once he has already denied the biological adult upon arrival at biological adulthood.

"Secondly, you clearly propose making these statements for younger people, without consulting them, and knowing full well they could only reveal the truth at great risk of losing what little personal freedom they are allowed by the various forms of adult authority that control them. It makes as much logical sense as white people in the pre-Civil War era claiming that it's "obvious that learning to read and write isn't important to black people" when they knew full well that any black person caught trying to learn, or expressing open interest in learning, did so at their peril."

I believe that this is the necessary result of lawmakers creating laws for a demographic which are not permitted to be lawmakers.

The laws concerning women's rights shift as soon as women enter the legislative.

It took Hispanics successfully entering politics to prevent discrimination.

No matter how large the voting base which might appeal to an "outsider" trying to serve another community; there is just a plain and simple difference between the laws we make which govern a THEM and the laws we make which govern an US.

"This is a black eye to the important rules of the penal code under democracy that requires evidence before charges can stick. It's also not protecting people, but rather protecting a very strict type of custom that trumps freedom of choice, and a type of decorum that spares mainstream sensibilities from having to tolerate a type of activity that they consider to go against the culturally "proper" relations between younger and older people."

Maybe, in a bizarre world, drastic prevention from any harm might warrant such draconian measures. ( Even though, the REAL consequences are that it encourages harm by driving relationships out of sight. ) But as it stands, the laws don't have an absolutist "too young to choose, too young to be held responsible" stance.

Every day brings more and more arguments that young criminals should be treated as responsible adults when it comes to their crimes.

Now only some of this comes from punitive zeal.

Some of it is the simple recognition of the fact that by certain ages there is very clearly a capacity to understand consequences and to choose wisely; enough so to hold accountable those who could have done so but who did not.

And yet, because sex is maaaaaaagic, it is the exception to what adult legal analysts otherwise know about the ages where consent exists.

"In the final analysis, it makes as much logical sense as assuming all other nations are our enemies based on the claim that we can't tell which ones are harboring sinister intentions towards us and which ones aren't, thus promoting war against all of them "just in case."

"Maybe there aren't THAT many hispanic car jackers; but you can't be too careful, you know?" :(

Dante