Why lowering age of consent flies in the face of efforts to protect girls

The furore and emotional debate that followed a proposal by Kenya’s Court of Appeal to lower the age of consent to 16 years is an indicator of many things.

According to judges of the appellate court, the country should discuss challenges of maturing children, morality, autonomy, protection of children and the need for proportionality in punishing sex pests. They said men were languishing in jail for sleeping with teens “who were willing to be, and appeared to be adults”. The judges referred to the sentences as an unfolding tragedy.