Why is it legal to have sex with a 16 year-old but illegal to masturbate to their nudie pics?

I live in Canada and the age of consent is 16 but anything under 18 is considered "child porn".





I just think it's weird that you're allowed to have sex with someone who's under 18 but it's illegal to fantasize about having sex with them until they are 18.





Why isn't the pornography law the same as the consent law?|||That's weird|||It's not illegal to masturbate, only to access child pornography. And there are limitations to having sex with a 16 or 17-year old. From the Department of Justice web site:





What is Canada's age of consent?


The age of consent for sexual activity is 16 years. It was raised from 14 years on May 1, 2008 by the Tackling Violent Crime Act.





However, the age of consent is 18 years where the sexual activity "exploits" the young person -- when it involves prostitution, pornography or occurs in a relationship of authority, trust or dependency (e.g., with a teacher, coach or babysitter). Sexual activity can also be considered exploitative based on the nature and circumstances of the relationship, e.g., the young person's age, the age difference between the young person and their partner, how the relationship developed (quickly, secretly, or over the Internet) and how the partner may have controlled or influenced the young person.





Are there any exceptions to this?


The Criminal Code provides "close in age" or "peer group" exceptions.





For example, a 14 or 15 year old can consent to sexual activity with a partner as long as the partner is less than five years older and there is no relationship of trust, authority or dependency or any other exploitation of the young person. This means that if the partner is 5 years or older than the 14 or 15 year old, any sexual activity will be considered a criminal offence unless it occurs after they are married to each other.





There is also a "close-in-age" exception for 12 and 13 year olds: a 12 or 13 year old can consent to sexual activity with another young person who is less than two years older and with whom there is no relationship of trust, authority or dependency or other exploitation of the young person.|||This is the same law we have in the UK and im sure the vast majority of civilised countries. I think the moral issue here is a man having sex with a 16yr old is likely to cause more harm to the 16yr old from a mental perspective than say masturbating over pictures of that same 16yr old. I think the law is put in place like this so that the 16yr old can make a decision to have sex with who he/she chooses and not the man/woman to force himself upon her/him.|||Because masturbate has a lot of psychological problems that could harm the perpetrator


And problems of these do not usually appear at the beginning


But for people addicted to it





its psychological problems doesn't appear to the people who do it once a week or once a month


but for people who do it everyday maybe affect them so badly





an example :


any smart person who Gets middling scores in his school


without masturbate he maybe gets a higher or be a smart without even know .|||in the state of california a 13 year old is old enough to "consent". but this just means they are old enough to say yes or no and understand what is happening. this does not give a person 18 or older the right to have sex with a minor. who wants to jack off to kiddie porn besides a pervert??? just nasty!|||Masturbation over nudie pictures at 16 (cater to imagination too much) lowers school grades but actual sex with a colleague boosts ego and one scores higher in test scores.|||PLEASE DON'T MASTURBATE IN PUBLIC , IT IS BAD FOR PUBLIC HEALTH . USE PUBLIC BATHROOM INSTEAD IF NECESSARY .....................issued in public interest .|||F**k the law!|||big brother = government , is watching you !!!|||very odd. i'm on my way to canada!|||Who says laws are logical?|||That is really strange!|||don't get caught.