Of consent and reason
Mmegi Editor | Wednesday December 21, 2016 22:48
That gap has been the space within which the immoral within our society have preyed on vulnerable teenagers, often entrapping them with monetary promises and essentially robbing them of their education and futures.
This year has been one rocked by a number of intergenerational sex scandals, mostly notoriously in Sebina involving a pregnant schoolgirl, which ended without clear resolution and/or clear justice to the teenager involved. Most recently, a shocking Ministry of Basic Education-sponsored report has revealed that a third of teens have their first sexual encounter before 13 years of age, a disturbing proportion of this being forced and the majority involving older partners.
Newly specially installed legislator, Bogolo Kenewendo has tabled a motion to increase the age of consent to 18 years, moving it in congruence with the provisions of the Children’s Act.
Not only will this criminalise sexual contact for those under 18, protecting them from the ravages of the morally decrepit society we have today, it will also allow a confluence of policies and interventions that have hitherto struggled with the discrepancy.
Agencies, Community-Based Organisations and other stakeholders championing issues of sexual health, HIV/AIDS and others have struggled with the discrepancy in the laws and it is to Kenewendo’s credit that in her short stay thus far in Parliament, she has already brought a long-needed issue to light. It needs to be said, however, that laws, no matter their number or density, cannot marshal or soldier morality. They can only punish those who, after a complainant has reported, go through the criminal justice system and are found guilty.
For those who are committed to immorality and the betrayal of this country’s youth, the laws are virtually nonexistent. This is the case, particularly in the case of the abuse of school girls and boys by older members of society, a vice which has worryingly become vogue, celebrated and euphemised by the “blesser” phenomenon.
Experts have pointed out that the symbiosis and growth of transactional sex, intergenerational relationships and HIV/AIDS among our youth are the result of the decay of long-held values and taboos, eroded further by a new peer-driven value system based on social media.
In other cases, the guardians of society have blatantly failed to protect teenagers, denying them the voice to file complaint, leaving them vulnerable to their abusers and even condoning abuse by settling clear rape through “family discussions and reparations”.
The “kids aren’t alright” and while, the problem may not be cured by raising the age of consent, it sends the message that not all guardians have given up on protecting and defending our children.
Today’s thought
“We think there comes a time when rot can no longer be ignored. Perhaps that time is now.”
- Unity Dow on the Sebina saga