(De)criminalizing adolescent sex : a rights-based assessment of age of consent laws in Eastern and Southern Africa

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Authors

Kangaude, Godfrey Dalitso
Skelton, Ann, 1961-

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Sage

Abstract

Age of consent criminal laws imposed on African states during colonialism were inherently patriarchal and gender-stereotypic, and continue to influence country approaches toward adolescent consensual sexual conduct. There are two major policy positions: a punitive and a nonpunitive approach. Most countries adopt the punitive approach. Mostly, legislation does not explicitly criminalize consensual sexual conduct between adolescents, and this leaves a gray area to be filled in by social and cultural norms that perceive adolescent sexual conduct negatively. Punitive approaches have been justified as necessary to curb harms to adolescents resulting from sexual conduct, including teenage pregnancies and sexual abuse. Age of consent laws, especially in their original colonial formulation deny adolescents, especially girls, sexual autonomy and agency. States focus more on punishment than on taking measures to address the structural antecedents of harms associated with sexual intercourse. States should reform age of consent laws to decriminalize consensual sex between adolescents in accordance with recognized rights of the child.

Description

Keywords

Age of consent, Adolescent sexuality, Sexual agency, Colonialism, Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Kangaude, G.D. & Skelton, A. 2018, '(De)criminalizing adolescent sex : a rights-based assessment of age of consent laws in Eastern and Southern Africa', Sage Open , vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 1-12.