Consider the following two cases
Case #1 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ol-matron-paid-12-year-old-boy-Mars-bars.html
Case #2 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...im-s-mother-feeling-like-torn-hearts-out.html
The precise details of the cases (Especially case #1, which seems a bit of a mess anyway) are not relevant to my question, simply about the issue of the Perp/victimhood of the 12 year olds involved.
Legally, in case #1, the 12 year old would be the "Victim" because a 12 year old is not deemed legally competent to consent to sexual activity.
And yet, in case #2, a 12 year old can be considered legally competent to commit rape, something that is a wilful act and requires, as such, a degree of consent, even if only with oneself.
It seems to me something of a paradox that a 12 year old can be either a victim or a perpetrator depending on whether the other party was older of younger than them.
(Especially if one was to consider the situation where a 10, 12 and 16 year old were all involved together, the 12 year old could be both victim and perp at the same time!)
Most paradoxes are hypothetical and though fun for debate have little relevance in day to day life. However legal paradoxes (And I am sure there are many) can become horribly relevant if one is unfortunate enough to get caught up in one.
So, what can be done to resolve or eliminate this and other legal paradoxes?
(And indeed, would the legal industry even want to!
)
Case #1 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ol-matron-paid-12-year-old-boy-Mars-bars.html
Case #2 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...im-s-mother-feeling-like-torn-hearts-out.html
The precise details of the cases (Especially case #1, which seems a bit of a mess anyway) are not relevant to my question, simply about the issue of the Perp/victimhood of the 12 year olds involved.
Legally, in case #1, the 12 year old would be the "Victim" because a 12 year old is not deemed legally competent to consent to sexual activity.
And yet, in case #2, a 12 year old can be considered legally competent to commit rape, something that is a wilful act and requires, as such, a degree of consent, even if only with oneself.
It seems to me something of a paradox that a 12 year old can be either a victim or a perpetrator depending on whether the other party was older of younger than them.
(Especially if one was to consider the situation where a 10, 12 and 16 year old were all involved together, the 12 year old could be both victim and perp at the same time!)
Most paradoxes are hypothetical and though fun for debate have little relevance in day to day life. However legal paradoxes (And I am sure there are many) can become horribly relevant if one is unfortunate enough to get caught up in one.
So, what can be done to resolve or eliminate this and other legal paradoxes?
(And indeed, would the legal industry even want to!
)
