Audio By Vocalize
Justice Bahati Mwamuye at a Milimani court.[Collins Kweyu, Standard]
Justice Bahati Mwamuye’s decision this week in HSA, AMO, TA & Another Vs Attorney General on the prosecution of adolescents under the Sexual Offences Act is a welcome relief. Many of us have protested the injurious impact on the welfare and dignity of adolescents caught within the law’s web due to its rigidity.
Let me start with an important declaration, which Justice Mwamuye restates ad-infinitum in his judgment; the Sexual Offences Act is a necessary law to curb sexual exploitation of minors in a country with its share of sexual predators.
The law’s rejection of the concept of consent by minors is a rational recognition that children lack the psychological and cognitive maturity to appreciate the consequences of sexual activity.
