Harm Argument Fails

In order to justify aoc laws on the basis of harm and the conflation of voluntary sexual activity with rape, it must be evidenced that psych harm is typically experienced, that it’s non-trivial, that it can be causally connected to the relevant act, and that the act alone is sufficient to cause it (cultural variables not necessary). Are these conditions met? The “CSA” literature does not assess the relevant thing i.e. voluntary sex. It conflates voluntary and non-voluntary. This confounded construct “CSA” has been shown to be only marginally predictive of long term psychological problems and co-occurring variables like abusive/neglectful upbringing are actually more predictive (Eckenrode, Laird, & Dorris, 1993; Ney, Fung, & Wickett, 1994; Rind et al., 1998; Ulrich et al., 2005) So, the literature can’t even establish causal connection between its construct “CSA” and harm and even if data for those confounded samples were taken to be representative of those who had specifically voluntary experiences, it would not evidence typical harm never-mind typical AND non-trivial harm. Finkelhor (1990) even admitted that every “CSA” study has identified a large minority of asymptomatic subjects and that their experiences were “without force and violence.” Moreover, several studies have actually separated voluntary from non-voluntary experiences and found that voluntary sexual contact under 18 with someone more than a few years older is not at all predictive of poorer long-term mental health (Arreola et al., 2008*; Daly, N., R., 2021; Rind, B, 2001; Rind, B, 2021; Stanley et al., 2004). The cited literature does not even suggest typical but non-trivial harm for voluntary sex. Furthermore, society’s attitudes and narratives as well as reactions to the acts (legal/psychiatric intervention) have been shown to create long-term problems (Constantine, L., L., 1981; Conte, J. R., 1995; Dienske, H., 1990; Henry, J., 1997; Malon, A., 2009; Okami, Paul, 1990; Riegel, L, D, 2019; Sauzier, M., 1989) leading to the concern that voluntary experiences may be made harmful because of society’s attitudes about them. Consequently, it is not clear that the act alone is sufficient to cause problems for those who have them. In conclusion, because the requisite conditions for its success have not been met aoc laws cannot be justified through the psychological harm argument.