Abstract:
Age of consent criminal laws imposed on African states during colonialism were inherently patriarchal and gender-stereotypic,
and continue to influence country approaches toward adolescent consensual sexual conduct. There are two major policy
positions: a punitive and a nonpunitive approach. Most countries adopt the punitive approach. Mostly, legislation does not
explicitly criminalize consensual sexual conduct between adolescents, and this leaves a gray area to be filled in by social and
cultural norms that perceive adolescent sexual conduct negatively. Punitive approaches have been justified as necessary to
curb harms to adolescents resulting from sexual conduct, including teenage pregnancies and sexual abuse. Age of consent
laws, especially in their original colonial formulation deny adolescents, especially girls, sexual autonomy and agency. States
focus more on punishment than on taking measures to address the structural antecedents of harms associated with sexual
intercourse. States should reform age of consent laws to decriminalize consensual sex between adolescents in accordance
with recognized rights of the child.
