Of consent and reason

A curious discrepancy exists in the laws of Botswana. The official age of consent is pegged at 16 while the Children Act’s defines a child as being anyone under 18. According to other laws, a person aged 18 and above can vote, enter into a contract of marriage and drive certain vehicles.

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.

Editor's Comment
UDC's 100 Days: Please deliver your promises!

We duly congratulate them to have ousted the long ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) from power. Prior to taking power from the BDP, the coalition had made several election promises that are credited for influencing change and swaying the people to vote in its favour.The party had made an undertaking, which its leader and President Duma Boko consistently bellowed in his campaign trail. These undertakings were promises that Batswana would be...

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