Different Kinds of Sex Laws in the United States

There are many kinds of sex laws in this country, so many that no one may really know just how many. Some of the most well known are crimes of exploitation and force, criminal consensual acts, crimes against good taste, crimes against reproduction and criminal commercial sex.

Crimes of exploitation and force are mainly to prevent rape and sexual relations with a child. For many years, the classic definition of rape is the act of sexual intercourse of a female whom is not your wife and did not consent. Today rape is better defined as "nonconsensual oral, anal, or vaginal penetration, obtained by force, by threat of bodily harm, or when the victim is incapable of giving consent". 1 Spousal rape became a crime in the 1970s and today is considered a crime in all 50 states. Most states have laws against statutory rape; although it is consensual it is usually considered statutory if a male 17 or 18 years of age having sex with a female ranging from 14-18 because the female is not old enough or mature enough to consent.

There are many general laws used to cover all sexual contact between an adult and a child. These general laws can include but are not limited to the use of "sexual language, exhibitionism, showing pornography to a child, having a child witness intercourse, or taking a child to a brothel or gay bar."2 Some of these laws are so vague to the point of not being able to prosecute in court or prosecuting for something that wasn't breaking the law (like a mother taking pictures of her baby's first bubble bath being considered as breaking the law). In order to make these laws more effective and prevent the misuse of them they should be revised in order to develop more specific laws. Every state also includes laws against incest or sexual relations between people closely related to each other.