20+ Posts Strong: Petition Update & Next Steps

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read, share, and engage with this issue. I truly appreciate the support, feedback, and conversations—this has grown because of you.

I encourage you to continue sharing this with others and to stay aware of how these dynamics can show up in real life. If this resonates with you, please consider signing and passing it along so more people can be part of the conversation.

Petition link: https://www.change.org/YAGrooming

Based on feedback and further reflection, I’ve updated my petition. With the update, the petition recognizes that large age-gap relationships are not inherently abusive. However, when a significantly older individual uses mentorship, authority, financial influence, or emotional dependency to manipulate a young adult, the law should provide stronger protections.

Also I have updated  this petition to call for lawmakers to:

• Recognize coercive control, grooming, and exploitative manipulation as factors that may undermine meaningful consent.
• Allow courts to consider significant age disparities when combined with positions of trust, mentorship, employment, caregiving, financial dependence, or other demonstrable power imbalances.
• Strengthen legal protections for vulnerable young adults aged 18–21 who are targeted due to known vulnerabilities, including mental health challenges, addiction recovery, homelessness, or developmental immaturity.
• Improve training for law enforcement, educators, employers, and social service professionals to recognize grooming and coercive-control tactics involving young adults.
• Invest in public education that helps young adults recognize unhealthy relationship dynamics, manipulation, and abuse of power before exploitation occurs.

Sincerely yours.