Author: Mhix

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Inequality of Laws on Sex and Statutory Rape (in Europe)

Over the last few days I have had interesting discussions with a friends about sex, the legal age of consent and statutory rape (ie. sex with someone considered ‘under age’) the implications, how it applies and how others might be affected by it.  I thought I would pose the questions, both answered and unanswered to you the reader.  If you wish to comment please do, if you do comment, please do not use any names or identifying details of the people concerned.

What follows are some scenarios, some real, some fictitious (and I’m not going to reveal which are which)…  Some refer to situations I have been in, some not, if you know me extremely well you will may possibly guess who and when, but otherwise you’d have to be one of the people concerned to know.  Others I mention are public as they have been in local and national newspapers, sometimes causing public outcry.  In all cases I will not reveal names, and I will delete/unapprove any comments that indicate who is involved (so please don’t do it if you comment, think before you write.)

First though the laws… according to Wikipedia in the UK, the age of consent is 16 (18 if one of the people are persons in a position of power (Person in a position of power are people like: Mum, Dad, Gardian, BabySitter, Doctor, Teacher, Priest, etc)  In Sweden it’s 15, in Malta its 18 etc… Now in most countries the age limit is physical age, not mental age, and that would be because of the difficulties of defining mental age.  In a couple of countries (eg Malta) there is an additional caveat in that a person that who has engaged in multiple consensual sexual relations in the past cannot be considered a minor even if their physical age is lower than that specified in law…. some countries have differing laws for homosexual vs hetrosexual relationships as well, I’m not going to get into that mine field, except to refer to both as if they are the same… that in mind consider the following:

Note: In each of the ‘non public’ examples I will refer to me as one person regardless of whether it was or not as there are at least 2 cases were the ‘other person’ was someone of around my age.  This of course ensures they are ficticious, but give real world issues.  It also means it’s harder to tell which ones have me involved and which ones do not. 😉

First some public cases…

Two Maltese residents/citizens of ‘minor’ age (both 14 or 15 if I remember correctly) the male was prosecuted for rape, the female wasn’t.  On the other hand in Britain, 2 persons (one male, one female) of ‘minor’ age engaged in sex, both were arrested and prosecuted for statutory rape.  Outside of Europe but something directly related, a 20+ female school teacher in Australia was jailed for engaging in sex with a 14 year old student.  Now the discussion on that is “why?” well in the latter (Australian) case it’s simple, a position of power, large age difference etc, laws were applied correctly and justly, but looking at the other two cases.  First the British one… how can two people (both minors themselves) be prosecuted for non consensual sex (statutory rape) with each other?  To ‘Rape’ someone one person is a victim, one is the instigator, how can both be the victims or worse (logically) both be the instigators?  Second, the Maltese case, there have been several such cases, some better argued by lawyers and some not, and that affects the outcome.  Some cases the lawyers have argued that the female has been sexually promiscuous in the past and therefore the law does not apply, this has affected the outcome and resulted in a ‘not guilty’ verdict.  The question here is ‘should it’, and ‘how is it proved’?

Now some non public stuff, both fictitious and real…

The law in Spain has the legal age of consent at 13 (unless deceit is used – which increases it to 16) the legal age for marriage as of November 2000 was set to 13 also.  So consider this, if 2 people from Spain are married and engage in a normal sexual (and marital) relationship and go to the United Kingdom for a holiday where the law states to be married or have sex they have to be over the age of 16… what happens?  Do they both get arrested and prosecuted for Rape, do they become ‘unmarried’ for the duration of their visit?  What happens if instead of a visit they move there to live permanently?  (On that last thought, if one of the couples’ parents moves to the UK permanently, and the son/daughter moves as a child of the parents… can the spouse gain a spouse Visa and move with his/her wife/husband?)

Now something to consider with me…(fictitious or not?  You decide!)

I was recently engaged in conversations with others about a relationship with me and others (none of which I have engaged in I might add).. I am 42 currently and a pre-op transsexual and all my documentation indicates ‘female’…  All ‘prospective’ partners turn out to be under the age of 18, however they professed to being/appeared to be 23+ when the question of a relationship came up.  Had I engaged in a relationship with any of them I could have been in a very serious and very dangerous place.  Being Australian (even with being a Maltese resident) the laws of Australia apply to me, so as per another case a few years back, I could have been arrested, prosecuted and jailed for engaging in a relationship with either of them (regardless of not knowing their real ages…) but forgetting the Australian laws (as this is an European issue) what would happen here in Malta.

The two girls are 17 year old Maltese residents/citizens, the next is 17 year old Swedish girl and on a long (6 month) holiday, another is a 17 year old British girl…  So lets look at them individually with my thoughts..

First being 42 and being more than double their ages, any consideration of ‘age difference’ are mute.

Now.. Maltese girls, 17, sexually active but legally considered a minor (18 for the age of consent.)  It would have been consensual (she chased me for a relationship), but is it legal?  How does one show that its consensual, how does one show ‘prior sexually active’ if it came to the ‘crunch’?  Well with one that would have been easy, a 17 year old mother already, so that definitively shows prior sexual activity, but what about the others, past boyfriend or past girlfriend? (that doesn’t show sexual activity, only that the person had a relationship..)  Next a Swedish girl, legal age of consent is 15, as a non-resident/holiday maker do the same laws apply, as I am resident and she not, does that make a difference?  If I visit her at home in Sweden, it is legal (Swedish law, I’m Australian so that starts other issues.) Similar issues go with the British girl, except the legal age of consent in the UK is 16 unless you’re in a position of power..  So what would happen if she approached me as a student of IT (at school/university/college) and asked for help, would I be in a position of power if I did help (I am not a teacher by profession.)

Now for some other issues that cannot be applied to me…

How about a if a 16 year old Spanish girl and a 16 year old British boy met on holiday here and engaged in sexual intercourse…?  Would either/both be arrested?

The conclusion and my thoughts (or more of a whole load of questions to be answered)…

The laws across Europe are totally inconsistent, and within the Schengen area there are even more issues in that it is conceivable that two people could engage in sexual activity and either or both be totally legal in their actions and then just walking 10 paces it could be illegal for either or both and have jail time as a possible result.  How are the laws applied?  How can they be applied in such cases?  Should age difference count in the legal system?  If a 16 year old in the UK engages in sexual activity with a 15 year old (two people in the same class at school for example) should one be guilty of statutory rape?  (if not how would one apply the law as there is a need for a clear age ‘limit’ and variations will result in more expense and confusion in the legal system.)  It is indicated in the Maltese definition of consent that majority (if not all) prosecution are based on complaint of the parents and often a same sex relationship is objectionable were as a differing sex relationship is not and therefore rarely prosecuted.  Should psychiatric evaluation of both parties be taken into account?  I know many 20+ year olds (both male and female) with an apparent (and in some cases a real) mental age of a 12-14 year old and I also know plenty of under 16’s that have an apparent mental age (and looks) of a 20+ year old. Does/Should country of residence have an influencing factor on prosecution?

If you do decide to comment, please prefix your comment with your profession if you are a lawyer or policeman/policewoman and your country.  As mentioned before please do not provide identify details of any one involved unless the case is public record (ie quote legal precedence or newspaper publications.)

 

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NOTICE

This is a notice to GFI Software Ltd, your staff, and your agents, it has come to my attention again that your members of staff at GFI Software are viewing this website from your offices.  I have placed access controls to prevent this, however members of your are deliberately circumventing those legitimately placed access controls by using other IP addresses at your office in Malta, Florida and other worldwide locations that have not been registered to your company deliberately to covertly access my websites and social media profiles.  I will not tolerate this behavior any more, cease and desist or I will be forced to request that the police bring the full force of the Maltese Law (Chapter 9, Section 337C of the Laws of Malta – the computer misuse laws) against your staff and the company for these continued violations of criminal code.  You, your staff, and your agents do not have permission to access any of my websites or my social media profiles.  This is your final warning, cease and desist.

 

Note: Those members of staff that have been given access to my Facebook profile may continue to have access via those profiles that have been allowed as I have implemented additional access controls that restricts their view to what is available publicly.  Those who have been blocked/banned from my profile that are using other profiles that either belong to themselves or others to covertly monitor my Facebook profile are in direct breach of Chapter 9 Section 337C(1)(a), (b) and (c).  Members of your staff who have used accounts under names that are not on the company register and/or that have not disclosed they are GFI Software staff for the purposes of gaining access privileges higher than those of known GFI staff will be considered in breach of my rights and the access controls I have placed and therefore in violation of Chapter 9 Section 337C(1)(i) of the criminal code in addition to the previously noted laws.

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United Airlines has to be the worst airline in the world barring: NONE!

No doubt that even if someone viewed this from United Airlines, they’d just laugh and pass it around as a “in joke” on their corporate LAN with the subject: “LOL this idiot thinks we have customer service!”

 United 906Y SFO-ORD-MUC (7/Mar/2012)

 Leg 1, SFO – ORD (Full Fare Premium Economy –  Silver Frequent Flier – A320/12B)

Boarding by designated class (1 through 8): Allocated Class 4.

Boarding of class 1 and 2 went smoothly, call for class three resulted in no passengers boarding.  Class 4 call occurred and it was noted that several people class 4 were already on the plane.

Ticketing despite being pre-allocated 12C my seat was reallocated to someone else just 24 hours before flight time.  On chatting to the person, they indicated they had paid ‘Top Dollar” for said seat and found on the online check-in that the seat allocation was available.  They were given class 2 boarding.

Staff were generally rude and unhelpful.  One exception on the flight, an attendant allocated to First/Business whom I failed to get her name.   All other flight attendants were unhelpful and unconcerned.  Other passengers also noted similar experiences with UA staff on previous flights.

Entertainment system was faulty, selecting Channel 9 for ‘Flight Deck’ resulted in no audio at all.  Every passenger announcement resulted in being reset to Channel 2, and a set volume.  Mid flight all channels were audio to match the screen.

In-flight dining: none.

 

Leg 2, ORD – MUC (7/Mar/2012) ( Full Fare Premium Economy –  Silver Frequent Flier – B777/22A)

Boarding Group 4, however due to late arrival of previous flight, boarding group not used.  Ground staff unable/unwilling to confirm baggage had actually been transferred from previous flight.

Upon boarding noted 6 economy plus seating was unallocated, when asking for a seat transfer was denied (politely) with the response, “they are for attendants during their rest period.”  Child passenger was sitting in my allocated seat, staff assistance was not provided, however parents of said child were both polite and helpful and moved child to the allocated seat.  Assistance through the whole procedure from the staff was unforthcoming.

During flight, for the first 2.5 hours had the call light on, and re-instated it several times however was completely ignored by all staff.  I slept for 2 hours, and upon waking noted that someone had turned off the attendant call light.  At around 5:20 into the flight I re-illuminated attendant call light.  Noted after 5 minutes no response, so depressed the call button twice.  Was greeted by staff member (Jeanette Quinn) with “What is your emergency”.  I indicated I needed a glass of water to take my medications (7 tablets on show where the staff had no idea of the medication type, nor was I queried on the subject.)  A glass of water was forthcoming within a few minutes.

In seat entertainment system: Generally good, and responsive.  Another passenger (Dwayne Hill, Seat 22C) had issues, upon explaining that the screen works better with hard touches (eg finger nails) rather than the soft padded touch of the index finger his experience was significantly improved.

Passenger Dwayne Hill, Seat 22C also noted that upon wandering back to the galley for a glass of water, was told by flight attendant (unknown – dark skinned) that he should be sleeping, and to return to his seat.  Passenger noted that the communication from the staff was extremely rude.

Upon speaking with other passengers their general experience and choice is “If we could have booked with someone other than United, we would have, they have to be the worst airline they have ever travelled.”  Passengers had various issues with obtaining alcoholic beverages.

In-flight dining:

Food for ‘dinner’ course was well presented, however the quality, whilst much improved from previous flights was still lacking on taste. Choice: Meatballs on pasta.  Salad that accompanied was fresh and of good quality.

Food for ‘breakfast’ course was presented in a bag.  The ‘pastry’ was more akin to a piece of cardboard.  The yogurt was acceptable.

Ticketing/Check-in Issues:

Due to the first leg being a domestic flight, I was forced to use the domestic check-in, however the boarding passes couldn’t be issued without help from the attendant so as there was only one person manning the counters and they were inadequately trained I had a 30 minute check-in.  My luggage allowance was restricted to ‘domestic allowances’ without ‘excess baggage’ charges (this cost an additional $70.00) as the first leg was classed as domestic.  Finally was forced to collect my luggage in Munich and re-check it in for the third leg to Malta as the operative couldn’t work out how to check the baggage all the way to Malta.  They finished by telling me that they couldn’t do it because they had no agreement with the baggage handlers in Munich to do the transfer… even though Air Malta (who would have the same agreement as I flew the reverse direction on my outward flight with the same airlines and same tickets) managed to check my luggage all the way to San Francisco…

General Comments:

Cabin temperature was reasonable, window seat had air conditioning ‘draft’ which the blanket supplied could not protect against.  Using a spare blanket did result in draft exclusion in the window seat (Why I ended up in the window seat even though booking was for the aisle seat.)

Pillows are (as reported previously) completely inadequate.

Toilets initially clean, however towards the end of each flight were soiled which was accompanied by the usual smell.  Flight staff “do not clean or check the toilets” – this was evident in the fact that 2 of the 3 toilets available for use had wet floors, full disposal receptacles and various pieces of rubbish strewn across the floor.

Staff in all ground positions and in leg 2 continually referred to myself as “he” and “him” despite flights being booked as “Ms Michelle Sullivan” and presenting all documentation as “Female”.

 

…. After my last flight with them in 2000 being ‘business class’ ($7000 one way from SFO to MEL) and similar experiences I thought they might get better…  I have just seen that some things in life NEVER change …

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Rest In Peace Webster

Rest in peace my friend, you got me through so much, you saved my sanity, you kept me company, you were always there when I needed someone.  

I will miss you my friend, I love you so much Webster, home will not be the same without you.