The first is painfully obvious, as power lets perpetrators get away with far more than they would have without such power. And of course, they are surrounded with rape apologists, enablers, and guilty bystanders as well. Natch. But denying young people autonomy and civil rights in the name of "protecting" them also not only fails to really protect them from predators, but actually puts them at greater risk. As a very different Dr. Robert Epstein (no relation!) has famously noted, teens have fewer rights than convicted felons, and in fact have ten times more restrictions.
True, it is very nuanced, and the correlation is probably NOT linear or even monotonic. Sometimes, a supposed "middle ground" is in fact the most dangerous place of all. Recall the "most murder in the middle" theory, where the midpoint (known as anocracy or semi-democracy) in the transition between full democracy and full autocracy is in fact the most violent of all. A similar analogy likely holds here as well, as in the abysmal status quo where young people are granted JUST barely enough agency to be blamed, shamed, and gaslighted for being victimized, but not nearly enough agency to actually empower them. And the solution is NOT to take more rights and autonomy from young people, but rather to give them MORE rights and autonomy. And of course, we must actually hold the perpetrators fully accountable regardless of their wealth, power, and social status.
So what are we waiting for?
P.S. And let's not forget to "thank" the peddlers of the previous moral panics from the Satanic Panic all the way to Pizzagate and QAnon, for crying "WOLF" so many times, that now that the wolf actually IS at the door, people are hesitant to believe it now.
(Mic drop)
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