Teen pregnancy: 'Soft' sentences embolden sex offenders, expert says

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What you need to know:

  • APHRC's Meggie Mwoka noted that such sentences are issued yet the Sex Offences Act clearly defines who a minor is and what the penalty should be for adults who engage in sexual activities with them.
  • She said illicit sex between adults and minors fuels the teenage pregnancy crisis.
  • According to Kenya Health Information Systems (KHIS) released recently, Nairobi county tops the list with 11,795 teenage pregnancies reported between January and May, compared to 11,410 cases in the same period in 2019.

Lenient sentences for convicted sex offenders are making them bolder and resulting in more crimes, an expert has said.

Dr Meggie Mwoka, of the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC), noted that such sentences are issued yet the Sex Offences Act clearly defines who a minor is and what the penalty should be for adults who engage in sexual activities with them.

“This sends a message to other potential offenders that they can practically get away with those sorts of crimes," she told a webinar held by development lobby Thellesi Company to discuss the teenage pregnancy crisis in Kenya. 

She said illicit sex between adults and minors fuels the teenage pregnancy crisis.

According to Kenya Health Information Systems (KHIS) released recently, Nairobi county tops the list with 11,795 teenage pregnancies reported between January and May, compared to 11,410 cases in the same period in 2019.

Kakamega is second with 6,686 cases compared to 8,109 cases last year. Machakos, whose data raised public outcry, is 14th with 3,966 cases this year compared to 4,710 cases last year. 

The total number of teen pregnancies across the country, for the January to May period, was 151,433 in 2020 and 175,488 in 2019.

Related factors

However, a paper entitled "Teenage Pregnancy in Kenya: Verifying The Data and Facts" terms the extent of the crisis more or less the same between 1993 and 2013. 

"The data shows the numbers of girls aged 10-19 years presenting with pregnancy in January-May in 2019 and 2020 are not that different, and lean more towards a decline in 2020,” states the paper authored by researcher Elizabeth Kahurani of the African Institute for Development Policy.

“The decline in use of health facilities during the Covid-19 period and the delay in validation of the latest figures in 2020 may account for lower numbers in 2020," she wrote in the paper dated June 26.

"Data from the Kenya Demographic and Health Surveys (KDHS) shows that almost two out of 10 girls or one in every five girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are reported to be pregnant or have had a child already. This trend has been fairly consistent for more than two decades, with little change in prevalence between 1993 and 2014.”

Little support

Dr Mwoka said adolescents are aware of their reproductive health rights but receive little support.

"Many adolescents are unwilling to visit public health facilities for reproductive health services because the staff will give them a hostile response if they ask for advice on contraception. Most of the staff are not properly trained on how to handle youths, which makes it hard to connect with them," she said. 

Referring to the recent Funga Miguu campaign launched in Kajiado County, to empower young girls to resist retrogressive cultural practices and shun premarital sex, Dr Mwoka said the tone of such campaigns places the blame on the minors.

"Such campaigns seem to suggest that whatever happens to the girl is her fault and will end up enforcing a culture of silence among the girls. They would rather keep quiet on their challenges since talking about them will expose them as having engaged in sex and lead to shame," she said.

Anxiety

Thellesi Company sponsored the webinar to discuss the results of the #BabyTimeBomb campaign carried out online and which reached 200,000 people on Facebook, 25,500 on Twitter.

According to the campaign data, more than half or 51 per cent of the people that interacted with the campaign’s online posts were men.

“As the country continues to grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic and find ways of responding to it, human interaction has been restricted. While there has been an increase in sexual crimes, there has also been an increase in consensual sex among young people,” the document by Thellesi reads.

“After organising several discussions with more than 200 young people aged between 18 and 25, we have learnt that the realities and uncertainties presented by this pandemic have brought about a lot of anxiety and stress.”

The report also noted the youth’s increased involvement in sex as well as antisocial activities such as drug use and crime.

"As a coping mechanism, some of them have taken to unhealthy habits such as alcohol and drug abuse, crime and increased sexual activity,” the report added. 

Education

Julie Mwabe, the Gender Advisor in the President’s Policy and Strategy Unit, said the country needs to identify the root cause of sexual activity among minors and take urgent measures to stem the tide of teenage pregnancies

“We have given the teens information through various channels. It is important for the country to find out why our teenagers are still engaging in sexual activity and find ways to prevent the occurrence of teenage pregnancies,” said Ms Mwabe.

She termed the recently reported cases of teenage pregnancy as unfortunate, saying there is a need to change the trend through sustained efforts to provide adolescents with proper information.

“We should watch out for the red flags that indicate an increase in sexual activity among our adolescents and take required action. One of them is the 152,000 pregnancies that were recently reported,” said Ms Mwabe.

According to Thelessi's Conrad Muchu, the results of the organisation’s survey on sexual activity and related attitudes show the pandemic has worsened the situation for most vulnerable young people.

Mr Muchu noted the lack of a sustained awareness campaign to discourage the youth from engaging in early and unprotected sex.

“The country had a serious campaign on the dangers of unprotected sex including sexually transmitted infections like HIV and unintended pregnancy in the early 2000s. The campaigns seem to have fizzled out, leaving a gap in the information that our teens are getting to help them avoid taking such risks,” he said.