Protecting custom

"It is ordinarily said that criminal law is designed to protect property and to protect persons, and if society's only interest in controlling sex behavior were to protect persons, then the criminal codes concerned with assault and battery should provide adequate protection. The fact that there is a body of sex laws which is apart from the laws protecting persons is evidence of their distinct function, namely that of protecting custom."

source: Alfred Kinsey, W. Pomeroy and C. Martin from the book 'Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'; W. B. Saunders; Philadelphia; 1948