According to United States law, for instance, children can only give simple but not informed consent to sexual activity. A major who performs sexual acts with a minor is guilty of statutory rape (or sex without consent when the child is very young). A minor can similarly not give informed consent to another minor; two minors engaging in sexual activity have both been victims of sexual abuse
Statutory rape
Statutory rape is the crime of sexual intercourse with someone under the age of consent but older than the maximum age for the act to be considered child molestation.
This term is primarily used in the United States. It is so named because it is considered to be rape under a specific statute rather than under the principles of criminal common law. Because the state has an interest in protecting minor children, it declares that children under a certain age are not able to give informed consent. Thus even if a child does nominally agree to sexual activity, it is still rape.
State laws vary widely in their definitions of statutory rape; some states make exceptions when the perpetrator is also young, or if he or she marries the minor before the act of sexual intercourse or before being convicted of the crime. Due to a wide variety of opinions on what the proper age of consent should be, statutory rape charges can be controversial.
In the past, cases of statutory rape involving an adult female and a younger male were often ignored by the law, as pervasive cultural myths held that this was actually a desirable experience for young boys. However, in recent years, the situation has been changing, and there have been a number of high profile cases where adult women have been prosecuted for establishing sexual relationships with young boys.