The Age Of Consent Movement

The Age of Consent Movement The Age of Consent movement originated in 1885 as a part of the Social Purity Movement. The Social Purity Movement focused on eliminating sexual relations that were immoral. This included prostitution and sex before marriage. Like many women’s rights’ movements, both fought for equality to their male counterparts. However, the age of consent movement focused primarily on younger girls and their ability to consent to sexual relations. Before the movement and during the movement, girls were subjected to intercourse with men who were two, three and probably four times their age. Though the movement did not necessarily change the way some men thought about young girls it did change how many times they acted upon those thoughts. The Age of Consent movement was successful

Instead of raising the age of consent so men and women could be considered equal, activists that focused on morals supported the idea of men and women halting all premarital sexual desires. Vie H. Campbell supported the idea of listening and following God’s rules in order to stay pure and remain equal. If sinning do not happen than there would be no way to determine who is better than the other. There would be no choice but to see each other as equal. Campbell also believed that even if the age of consent was raised, the men and women engaging in sexual relations before marriage would still be committing a crime and should still be punished. Using Christian values was a different approach to the Age of Consent movement than the others. While they mostly blamed the men and pointed out the mistreatment of women, this viewpoint blamed everyone. The movement also called for the abolishment of the age of consent because it promoted lust and desire. Though different, focusing on morals was just as effective in getting supporters to change the way men treated