This woman who didn't see the problem with a 17 year old having sex with a middle aged man is just blind. Here in the UK it is now illegal for anyone to marry who is under the age of 18, yet the age of 'consent' is still 16. There are some holes in the law meant to protect girls from forced and child marriages. Some girls know their mind enough to say 'no' at 16 and 17 but some don't know their mind enough at 18 to protect themselves. I didn't. When you see an age imbalance whether it is for marriage or sexual activity that should always set off alarms. Coercion comes in many forms including some that feel good in the immediate but leave lasting damage that can hurt for the rest of your life. Girls and women are not for exploitation. It's men who have to fix this. It's men who have to make it utterly unacceptable to participate in such power imbalances. It's men who have to promote the norm that men respect and seek out women who have power and can choose, and reject completely the now norm of patriarchal ownership of very young (or any age) women's bodies.