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There are many things men say and many of those things are not worth repeating or remembering. But on this day, and at this how, there are men who will live in infamy forever for the views they hold about the right of the child in Kenya.
The head of the Kenya Tourism Federation is quite open about his position on the rights of the child, espoused in his remarkable whataboutist theory: "Kwa ground many 15 year olds are pregnant with a known boyfriend."
We have pointed out on many occasions that comprehensive sex education is vital to the protection of children from harm. An important aspect of that education is the principle that children cannot give consent to sex acts of whatever nature no matter the circumstances.
A parent, guardian, caregiver or other adult responsible for a child has an obligation to protect that child from sexual exploitation by other adults. An adult that ignores the sexual exploitation of a child by another adult is to be treated with suspicion when around children.
This is not to ignore the fact that children will engage in sexual acts with other children; but that is not what the Chitembwe judgment dealt with. The accused was an adult who groomed a child in lower primary and sexually exploited her in the full knowledge of the child's careg
The child's parents and adult siblings allowed her to be sexually exploited, endorsed her sexual exploitation. The judge accepted the explanation that the two were in a relationship and that the child "knew" what she wanted.
One of the most prevalent crimes in Kenyan's coast is the spectre of foreign, often caucasian, tourists sexually exploiting children. It is one of the dark secretive pillars of the tourism industry at the coast. It is camouflaged by the KTF chairman's whatboutist theory.
15 YO children have boyfriends. 15 YO children willingly engage in sex acts. *Therefore, there's nothing wrong in sexually exploiting 15 YO children.* After all, if judges can set free murderers whose murders were caught on video, why shouldn't 15 YO children not be exploited?
The Sexual Offences Act is the law of the land. It is the legal expression of the people's will that children are not sex objects. It is the legal expression of the constitutional command that children must be protected by all - the state, their parents, other adults, society.
Children must be protected even from themselves. In no universe - not even the long-forgotten "traditional" world some men pine for - is it normal for a 19 YO man to groom a 10 YO girl to be his "wife". And no, a 19 YO man is not a "boy".
We can try and make the case for teenagers who have sex with other teenagers. We cannot, should not, make a case for adults having sex with children. We have drawn the line in the sand in the form of the Sexual Offences Act.
I don't what it is that has energised men in the 21st century to make the case for the sexual exploitation of children by adults. But I do know this: a judge who ignores the law and the constitution is unfit to hold high office.
