Sexual Exploitation of Teenagers
Adolescent Development, Discrimination, and Consent Law
When we consider the concept of sexual abuse and harassment, our minds tend to jump either towards adults caught in unhealthy relationships or criminals who take advantage of children. But the millions of maturing teenagers who also deal with sexual harassment can fall between the cracks. When it comes to sexual relationships, adolescents pose a particular problem. Few teenagers possess all of the emotional and intellectual tools needed to navigate these threats, including the all too real advances made by supervisors, teachers, and mentors. In "Sexual Exploitation of Teenagers", Jennifer Drobac explores the shockingly common problem of maturing adolescents who are harassed and exploited by adults in their lives. Reviewing the neuroscience and psychosocial evidence of adolescent development, she explains why teens are so vulnerable to adult harassers. Even today, in an age of increasing public awareness, criminal and civil law regarding the sexual abuse of minors remains tragically inept and irregular from state to state. Drobac uses six recent cases of teens suffering sexual harassment to illuminate the flaws and contradictions of this system, skillfully showing how our current laws fail to protect youths, and offering an array of imaginative legal reforms that could achieve increased justice for adolescent victims of sexual coercion.
Contents:
Chapter 1. Introductions: Sara's Case, Sexual Exploitation, and Legal Terms
Chapter 2. Adolescent Worldliness: Sexual Harassment Targeting Teenagers
Chapter 3. Adolescent Development: Wisdom Regarding Teen Capacity
Chapter 4. Legal Treatment of Worldly Adolescents and Criminal Law Treatment of Unwise Adults
Chapter 5. The Development of Civil Law's Response to Worldly Women and Precocious Teenagers: Historical Wisdom or Oppressive Judgment?
Chapter 6. Modern Worldly Wisdom? The Theoretical Foundations of Antidiscrimination and Sexual Exploitation Law
Chapter 7. Wising Up in the Workplace: Modern Antidiscrimination Law and Its Application
Chapter 8. The Evolution of Conflicting Law in California and Perhaps Beyond
Chapter 9. Students Who "Lov'd Not Wisely but Too Well" and the Biases That Influence Adults in Judgment
Chapter 10. Becoming Wiser: Public Policy, Developing Capacity, the Law, and Legal Assent
Acknowledgments
Appendix 1: Common Forms of Sexual Harassment
Appendix 2: Summary of State Juvenile Sex Crime Statutes
Notes
Index
About the Author
Jennifer Drobac is professor at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.
Reviews
"Work on the sexual harassment of teens has tended toward educators and therapists – not lawyers and policymakers – and Drobac shines a spotlight on an area of law that has received too little attention. 'Sexual Exploitation of Teenagers' makes a strong case that can positively impact real teenagers' lives and will convince readers of the woeful need for reform. It is indeed an enduring contribution" – Deborah Tuerkheimer, Northwestern University Law School
"Drobac's Sexual Exploitation of Teenagers is deeply researched and written with passion. Much more than legal scholarship, this book is a must-read for anyone in the field who cares about protecting young women and teens" – Drew Altman, president and CEO, Kaiser Family Foundation
"In 'Sexual Exploitation of Teenagers', Drobac attacks her subject with a striking combination of scholarly rigor, innovative analysis, and passion for those treated badly first by predators and then by our legal system. She grounds her account in both data and personal accounts and unpacks the social and legal failures that can deny redress to the victims of exploitation. She draws on a broad range of interdisciplinary approaches, including the insights of neuroscience and developmental psychology. This book identifies the major problems, details the inadequate responses of the law, and proposes concrete changes to improve how we hold those responsible for the predation to account. It is the complete package" – Oliver Goodenough, Vermont Law School
"Drobac's work is extremely original. She is one of the few legal scholars looking at adolescent brain development's implications for sexual harassment law. 'Sexual Exploitation of Teenagers' is an excellent contribution to the field, and it takes on an important issue that really has not been fully explored yet elsewhere" – Theresa Beiner, University of Arkansas, Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law
