And maybe she didn’t, canon doesn’t tell us she did—but that doesn’t change the fact that this is what it looks like.

When Anakin and Padme first meet, you don’t think that this woman twice his age would willingly enter a sexual relationship with him when he’s a teenager, because off the bat Padme gives us the air of maturity and responsibility, which only grows when she becomes Senator. 

Padme and Anakin’s relationship was very sibling coded to begin with, at least coming from Padme. Which, considering she is the older child in the situation, made a lot of sense. Anakin’s relationship and love for Padme also stems directly from the fact that he’s a slave and has never encountered anyone like Padme due to his circumstances. There’s a power imbalance and an unhealthy emotional dependency right there—now was Padme aware of the last bit, I doubt it. But the first bit, absolutely.

Considering that, her relationship with Anakin is just plain irresponsible. In fact, much of how she handles him is irresponsible.

And folks may be like, “19 is the age of consent,” or “he’s basically an adult” No—he’s not. The brain and experiences of a 19 year old vs. a 24 year old are considerably different, even with life experiences taken into account. And taking into consideration Anakin’s risk factors (growing up as a slave, trauma of leaving his mothers, etc.,), his relationship with Padme becomes even more concerning, and does not make him more of an adult.

Anakin was traumatized, badly. Anakin did not need to be in a relationship, not because he was a Jedi, but because relationships are such a huge part of his trauma and have been highly problematic. Padme knew this, she knew what Anakin experienced, she knew how damaged his life on Tatooine had made him. She should not have been in a relationship with someone like him, not until he was an adult and not until she could work with him to recover and heal.

I’m not saying people with mental illnesses can’t be in relationships at all, even I have trauma from a shit ton of crap I experienced in my childhood. What I’m saying is that being in a relationship with an untreated mental illness, when attachments and relationships are a trigger of a sort is not healthy and not good, and the responsible party should opt out of said relationship.

Anakin wasn’t mentally ready. Padme knew this. Padme also knew of his infatuation with her. Again, his attraction to her isn’t on Padme. But her knowing that his attraction to her came from his childhood as a slave, and understanding that he liked her mainly because he hadn’t seen anything like her, and entering a relationship with him rather than encouraging him to explore is problematic. It goes back to the power imbalance.

But like, I shouldn’t have to explain Anakin’s mental state to justify why a 24 year old entering a relationship with a 19 year old is problematic. Padme was wrong. Even if Anakin was a perfectly normal kid, it was wrong. She knew him when he was a child, and watched him grow. When he expressed romantic feelings towards her, she should have shut it down.

She should have—it’s completely irresponsible and disgusting of her not to.

And you’re absolutely right, teenagers can and do molest children. There are well documented case of this. It’s not unheard of, sadly, and as a MSW student I’m all too aware of abuse in the household between younger and older siblings. The things I’ve heard are god awful, but you’re right, it’s a thing. Padme was a fully functioning teenager who knows right from wrong, and who had seemingly put boundaries between she and Anakin given the age gap to begin with.

This should have continued throughout the trilogy. I mean she is aware of the age gap.  

And now to your point about women abusing men or boys—yeah, you’re right. Unfortunately there’s a huge double standard about abuse and molestation, and with women as perpetrators, people tend to overlook it and there’s a lot of shame in boys and men in brining it forward. I think this is why so many people actually let Padme off of the hook. But if Anakin was in Padme’s shoes, oh boy would there be riots and rightfully so.

All in all, Padme and Anakin’s relationship is disturbing. Padme takes advantage of Anakin, when in reality she should have set boundaries and spoken to Obi-Wan. She manipulated the relationship she had knowing Anakin was a child with a traumatized background that idolized her.