This archive report was first published on 25 December 2019.
Christmas parties can be a time of joy and celebration, but for teenagers, they can also pose a significant risk.
According to a report by the Centre for Reproductive Rights and the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya, adolescents who engage in consensual sex with their peers are often exposed to criminal sanctions, including imprisonment.
The report highlights the case of a 16-year-old boy in Western Kenya who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for having sex with his 14-year-old girlfriend.
The boy's case is a stark reminder of the need to reform Kenya's Sexual Offences Act, which criminalises sexual acts between minors, even if the partners consented to having sex.
The law does not make any distinction between non-coercive/non-exploitative sex and coercive/exploitative sexual conduct between minors, and it also does not make any distinction between sex between adolescent minors and sexual acts between adolescent minors and adults.
As a result, adolescents who engage in consensual sex with their peers are often left vulnerable to criminal sanctions, including imprisonment.
According to the report, an average of one in four Kenyans is classified as an adolescent, meaning they are aged between 10 and 19.
The report warns that adolescents will continue to explore their sexuality during this transitional phase, and will be in danger if they continue to do so without education and access to reproductive health services.
Further, the law on sexual offences has tended to result in adolescent males being imprisoned and, in some cases, ending up with a permanent criminal record for engaging in consensual sexual conduct with other adolescents.
However, other countries are trying to figure out ways around the complexities of consensual sex between minors.
In South Africa, accused minors can use the defence of 'close in age' if they are at most two years apart in age.
And in Rwanda, a new penal code was passed last year that decriminalised consensual sex between adolescents aged at least 14.
