A study established that abstinence raises adults with a skewed view of sexuality and not enough information to be sexually responsible.
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Teen pregnancy has been a major concern to both the government and policymakers.
One of the major solutions often offered is the need to teach abstinence.
A research project was done to determine the impact of abstinence campaigns in reducing teenage pregnancy.
Apparently, teenagers actually recall a lot of the information passed on to them but abstinence rates never go up.
The painful truth is that girls are either coerced or manipulated by grown men in exchange for necessities like water, food, pads or boda boda rides home from school. They are falling prey to predatory men.
Nyanza MPs – Hon Millie Odhiambo, Hon Ruth Odinga and Hon Joyce Osogo decried the high rates of child molestation in the region and called for stiffer sentences for those found guilty.
But this is not a Nyanza issue. Prosecutorial rates are low across the country.
Rape and sexual assault remain the most unreported crimes.
And even when children get their days in court and the evidence shows that they were indeed assaulted or molested we had rulings that do not favor the victims.
Last year Justice George Odunga, at the High Court (The High Court!) ruled that minimum sentencing in the Sexual Offenses Act is unconstitutional taking us back decades in lawmaking.
For many reasons rape and sexual assault remain the most unreported crimes in the country.
Where does this leave our teenagers especially now that we aim to prepare them for a sexually responsible adulthood.
Abstinence is the belief that sex is wonderful, powerful, potentially dangerous and even sacred that’s the bedrock we know of.
We are made to believe that our bodies are precious and we should hold them in high regards.
For our government to hold Kenyan bodies as precious is a great place to start.
We need to make the Kenyan Government understand and hold our bodies as precious and worthy of protection and high regard cannot start in adulthood.
It ought to start early in our homes and schools, continue through tertiary institutions of learning and then contextualize this belief system in professional settings so that police, the judiciary and even bankers and engineers know what it means to them.
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We have witnessed judgements that indicate a need for capacity building within the judiciary.
Information about our bodies and sexuality invariably delays our sexual debut.
Most importantly, we should teach abstinence and how to create it so that teens have clear boundaries with romantic partners.
Let us also go after those who violate the bodies of others zealously to arrest, prosecute and incarcerate them.
In some cases, when, the custodians of justice make questionable decisions they too must face disciplinary action.
If we are going to teach abstinence, then let us follow through with it fully.
Give our children the tools to remain abstinent; and punish anyone who molests or violates that abstinence to the full extent of the law.
