It does not speak well of those who believe that same-gender love is a perversion but opposite gender sexual abuse isn't. Don'tcha think?

But that is like comparing apples and oranges.  "Love" to most people is a positive things whereas "abuse" has entirely negative connotations.  Though of course love is not always positive and there can be many mistakes in it and it may become abusive.  We speak so generally that we don't refine what we  - as far as "love" or "abuse". Forcible rape is sexual abuse, pressuring us is sexual abuse, perhaps groping us.  But what else does that include?  In life men want to be with us and they will do many things to achieve that.  Hopefully what they do will be socially acceptable to us but that is not always the case just as we sometimes go along with things we don't want just to make an end to them for which I for one would not blame them just because I might have been too lazy to get out of a situation in other ways.  Just the active/passive natures of our relative sexualities could be termed, from a certain point of view, "abuse" but that would very much be personal and in the eye of the beholder.  Which is why I think we must be very careful and specific when we throw around such terms and not just assume all of us are on the same page. 

True. I should have qualified what I was speaking about.
I was relating to the implication that the abuse was dependent upon the genders of the perpetrators and the victims. 
You are correct not every inappropiate action is in the same class. 

When I was 18 I had a relationship with an older man. Actually lived with him for a year or so.  He had been my teacher in private school and I felt comfortable and safe with him and learned much from him.  So though some may interpret that as "abuse" I certainly would not at all.  Depends on the individual experience and I don't think you can just blanketly condemn everything like that. 

Even so, what about the millions of others who are  abused on the regular by much older folks? Are you saying your 'relationship' is of the typical of those? Because while normal relationships may occur, the vast amounts of them are abusive (power imbalances and mental maturity).

I agree to some extent but please name any relationship between any people where there is not a "power imbalance". One person is always going to have more or less power of different kinds than another. Same with "mental maturity" - what does that mean and who defines that?   How would people even go about thinking of or measuring such things?  In life so much of the time that is just the way things are and is how we deal with it that makes the difference.  When we start divided or separating everything into thinking in terms of either "victims" or "abusers" we create an artificial  two-tiered society.  

When a criminal act is committed there is the remedy of law but most of us who have gone to law have realized that it is no remedy.  I was raped - forcibly - when I was 20 and was so full of righteous anger that I prosecuted which only drew attention to me as a "hippie" and "loose woman". Because the way many people view it is a woman has no right to be in any situation where she could possibly be taken advantage of or abused.  In other words shut up and confined and "protected".  Thank you very much but I will take my chances and deal with the consequences. 

The sexual exploitation of children has been proven to cause long term damage to oneself and society. I literally just read about a 13yo kid who 'had' sex with some man. Of course there are cases where they are completely okay with it but it just normalises 'older' people to seek other children if they apparently consent to such scenarios.

Many things cause "long term damage to oneself and society" but we less hear about them and discuss them because people are just more interested in talking and thinking about sex.  Prurient interest.  If we are going to talk about it lets talk about it directly and not exploit our misery or someone else's to do so.  Thank you.

You're lucky to be one of those who are not in the clutches of her rapists. For example, you still can eat and work and live even after prosecuting. Other people, especially children are rarely given the opportunity as the abusers tend to be someone they rely on (family members or those who hold power over their homes), or will get ostracized for being the victim. But then again you were 20 and a fully capable adult, unlike many of these victims. These victims also tend to undergo multiple amounts of rapes, in the dozens to hundreds. Being shaped by such brutality in childhood is the definition of inhumane.
Your wording of 'forcible' rape only cements your lack of knowledge of the subject matter.

I don't speak on your behalf I speak for everyone who cannot speak on theirs, unable to lose their rapists for months and years and sometimes for life. Don't put down others who are not as fortunate (education, social class, upbringing, family) as you are just because you 'got over' yours. Child prostitution rings occur even in the highest of places in Britain and USA, what do you think goes on in the rest of the world? Do you think that child brides, chai boys, and child prostitutes are all minor issues that should be swept under the carpet because it's unfashionable to talk about them and it makes you uncomfortable? This post was edited by D&D at November 17, 2017 1:02 PM MST