The proposal by the court of appeal judges to have consent lowered to 16 years has stirred a debate among parents and teachers.
Many teachers, guardians and parents have expressed disappointments over the proposal citing that it a death trap to young girls who could be exposed to early unwanted pregnancies, diseases
The proposal originated from a case where a man who had been sentenced to 15 years for impregnating a minor: a 15-year-old girl was set free. The public was not happy with the decision and some argued that there are chances that the culprit will continue doing the same to other young girls.
The judges; Daniel Musinga, Roselyn Nambuye and Patrick Kiage, questioned the penal provisions in the Sexual Offences Act No.3 of 2006.
According to the judgment delivered on March 22, 2019, many other jurisdictions criminalize only sexual conduct with children of a younger age than 16 years.
They further compared the reasoning applied when the English House of Lords in the UK heard the case of a woman against a doctor who offered contraceptives to five 15-year- old girls without parental consent.
It was said that the young ones might not have attained the age of maturity but they may well have reached the age of discretion to make intelligent and informed decisions about their lives and their bodies.
Despite that, a section of Kenyans are not taking that matter lightly.
“Why do we want to force children to become adults, when they are not? I do not see the motivation of that proposal,” said Alex Rithi a Nairobi resident.
Teachers, who also spend a lot of the time with the young girls say such a proposal will curtail the right to education.
John Chigiti, a children’s advocate, maintains that such a proposal need to have understood the background as to why the initial age was put at 18 years.
“What sex will do is expose these kids to abortion, change them from the classroom and put them in maternity wards and this will interfere with the reproductive health of that child. If we reduce to 16 years we will reduce it to 15 years the other year and 12 years the other year,” said Chigiti.
While many doubt the viability of such a proposal, the discussion has put on the spot the responsibility of the society in safeguarding the rights of children.