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Sex between adults and children, what is wrong with that?;
Pedagogiek [NL];
29(1), 78 - 92
What (if anything) makes adult-child sex morally wrong? Two standard answers are given to this question.
- The first one (the harm argument) is that sexual contacts between adults and children are wrong because they likely are harmful to the child.
- The second one (the consent argument) localizes the wrong-making characteristic in the child’s inability to give valid consent to sex with adults.
Both standard arguments are explained and assessed. The upshot is that both arguments are sound, but only with respect to a particular subclass of sexual contacts between adults and children.
- The harm argument is effective only if the child is unwilling to participate in the sexual encounter, and
- the consent argument is successful only if the child’s parents did not give the adult permission to have sex with the child.
Consequently, both arguments fail if the child participates freely and the adult involved received parental permission. It will be argued that what makes these cases of adult-child sex morally wrong, or at least most of these cases, is the fact that if the parents had taken their role-responsibilities seriously, they would not have granted the adult permission to have sex with their child.
What (if anything) makes adult-child sex morally wrong? Two standard answers are given to this question.
- The first one (the harm argument) is that sexual contacts between adults and children are wrong because they likely are harmful to the child.
- The second one (the consent argument) localizes the wrong-making characteristic in the child’s inability to give valid consent to sex with adults.
Both standard arguments are explained and assessed. The upshot is that both arguments are sound, but only with respect to a particular subclass of sexual contacts between adults and children.
- The harm argument is effective only if the child is unwilling to participate in the sexual encounter, and
- the consent argument is successful only if the child’s parents did not give the adult permission to have sex with the child.
Consequently, both arguments fail if the child participates freely and the adult involved received parental permission. It will be argued that what makes these cases of adult-child sex morally wrong, or at least most of these cases, is the fact that if the parents had taken their role-responsibilities seriously, they would not have granted the adult permission to have sex with their child.
