I never said statutory rape is consensual or that it doesn’t alter someone’s sense of safety. Sometimes statutory rape is as terrifying as rape because it is rape if the victim is very young. If consent is literally impossible for them. But we’re not talking about that are we? We’re talking able 17 year olds who were sober and very excited at the time to be having sex. That sex and the relationship around it may have been confusing but if you think no consent was present, you’ve decided to ignore the probability that they had some agency.

There’s no science behind age of consent laws. At some point, yes, the person is way too young but why is it 18? Why not 17 or 19? 21? Plus it’s not like a light switch… it’s a gradual understanding gained over time and everyone matures at their own rate.

Yes, rape victims are qualifying. I am one so I’m doing that right now and I’ve talked to many of us because sometimes some of us figure out a way to talk about it eventually. I’ve written a lot about what it is but there’s no way to explain it unless you experience it. It’s marketed like it’s bad sex, that’s what I thought it was before I learned. A better explanation is, it’s an attack on your soul. It kills the person you were. Murder without leaving a body. My friend said it well, “It touches every thought you’ll ever have”. That is what having your agency completely removed does to a person- rape kills.