Embracing teenage sexuality: Let’s rethink the age of consent in Kenya

Author: William Aseka
Human Rights Lawyer

When the Court of Appeal in Eliud Waweru Wambui v Republic Criminal Appeal No 102 of 2016, raised the issue of reducing the age of consent for adolescent, there was panic in the whole country. Everyone including leading renowned children rights advocates rejected this idea even without reading the judgment of the court. The judges in this case stated it is rather immature for adults to think that ‘teenagers and maturing adults, do not engage in, and often seek sexual activity with their eyes fully open’. The judges were of the opinion that even though teenagers might not have attained the age of majority, they may have ‘reached the age of discretion’. However, before this case, the High Court in CKW v Attorney General & Director of Public Prosecution stated that the offense of defilement under the Section 8 of the Sexual Offences Act is for the best interest of the child. In CKW case, unlike the Eliud Waweru the accused was a teenager like the victim. In fact, at the time of the offense occurring, both parties were sixteen years of age. The stark reality is that a consensual sexual relationship between two 16-year-olds is a criminal offense in Kenya. These draconian and puritanical laws are largely the product of a conservative political culture that has transformed the fight against child molestation into a full-blown war on teenage sexuality. We now live in a moral milieu so toxic and muddled that we lump together as “sex offenders” teenagers who send nude photos to each other with clergymen who rape toddlers. A first step toward reversing this madness — and actually protecting the health and safety of teenagers — would be to revise the age of consent downward to a threshold in accordance with those of other nations.

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