Duffy wrote:
Quote:
Women demand equality...
No they don't. They demand special treatment but call it equality. Women never say what they actually mean. You should know this by now.
FWIW, I don't think a 26 yo guy banging a 17 yo girl should automatically be prosecuted either, but that's another discussion.
There are actually times when when something that is completely equal it isn't completely fair. Sometimes you do have to make allowances for gender differences. As a feminist I always have said I am for equitable treatment of the genders rather than equal treatment.
I do agree with you that there should be no difference here. Most people are biased toward seeing men as predators and women as victims and would be harsher on a man who had inappropriate relations than a woman. In the best of all possible worlds we would look at the mental maturity of the person rather than calendar age but that can be way too arbitrary to use as law.
I think that law enforcement should sometimes use discretion. If justice isn't being served by arresting someone than they shouldn't even if they are guilty by the letter of the law. In Michigan there was a case where a 18 year old high school senior got his 16 year old girlfriend pregnant. The girl's parents didn't want the boy prosecuted. The guy actually married his GF but has a rape conviction on his record and has to register as a sex offender everywhere he lives. The girl was more than 2 years his junior so by the letter of the law he was guilty of statutory rape but in this case prosecution was an injustice rather than justice. The cop could have shown discretion and not arrested. The prosecutor could have shown discretion and not charge the guy. The court could have shown discretion and refused to hear the case. Finally the jury could have shown discretion and not found him guilty. At every point in the chain they made the wrong choice.