Underage sex is rape

For far too long, teachers who befriend and impregnate primary or even secondary school pupils have had it easy.

Rarely do these sex pests suffer anything beyond interdictions, ‘‘investigations’’ and then transfers to other schools where they often continue preying on young, impressionable minds and bodies.

The losers, on the whole, are the young girls, who are forced to cut short their studies at a tender age, while the teachers walk free.

Two things should be clear here. Having sex with an under-age girl is illegal in Kenya. The age of consent is 18, and any intimacy with a girl below that age is a form of rape – regardless of whether the sex is consensual or not.

The second is that sexual intercourse with a schoolgirl is, under the Education Act, illegal as well. And it does not matter whether the girl is 18 or not. The girl is still a minor. But rarely do we hear that they have been hauled to court to answer charges.

That is why the call by First Lady Lucy Kibaki to legislators to make the Sexual Offences Act more punitive resonates with a lot of parents.

It is time the authorities implemented the law to the full in this regard. It is also time parents realised that they have the full force of the law and they can sue for damages if their children are molested.

The moment a teacher is proved to have had carnal knowledge of any pupil, he should be charged. That is the only way to curb the menace.