The Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER) hosted a seminar in the Richard Ward Building on the East Campus on 15 July.
Chaired by WISER’s Lisa Vetten, the panel examined recent amendments to the law decriminalising consensual sex between two children aged 12 to 15, or between a child under 16 and another child over 16 where the age difference is less than two years (see previous article).
Sarah Duff from WISER spoke on the history of children’s sexual socialisation. “In the past, there were sanctions against pregnancy out of wedlock,” said Duff. “Young, unmarried mothers were stigmatised, ostracised, and used as scapegoats. Now the anxiety and blame among moralists has shifted, from unmarried mothers to pregnant teens.”
“The thought of children being sexual agents makes adults uncomfortable, so we try to wish it away,” said Deevia Bhana from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, speaking on the dynamics of children’s gendered and sexual culture. “But when it comes to sex, we need to acknowledge that children know more than we (like to) think they know. There is this assumption of ‘childhood innocence’, and the belief that children need punitive parenting in order to raise morally continent adults. But we need to contextualise our sexual moral panic. The same way we cannot demonise members of the LGBTQIA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and allies) community, simply because they present with ‘non-normative’ sexualities, we cannot criminalise children for being sexual agents. This results in children not admitting to their own sexual agency, because they fear being perceived as ‘contaminated’.”
Nolwazi Mkwanazi from the Wits Anthropology Department spoke on the politics of reproduction and early child bearing. “Although the rate of teen pregnancies in SA is high, it has not increased,” said Mkwanazi. “It is just more visible in schools now, because the girls cannot be expelled, as was common practice in the past. That said, the school environment for pregnant girls is often a hostile one. One third of these girls do not complete their education. The environment at many family planning and abortion clinics can also be a hostile one. Nurses often chastise young girls for seeking contraception and termination services, with many nurses refusing to perform abortions on the grounds of conscientious objection, and fear of being stigmatised in the community. This leads to the girls’ late announcements of their pregnancies – beyond the time-frame in which they can request a legal termination, which has resulted in an increasing number of girls seeking out the services of backstreet practitioners. Fifty per cent of abortions among 13-to 19-year-olds are performed illegally, because the girls know they will not be turned away, and that it will remain confidential.”
Speaking on legislating children’s sexual practices, Zane Dangor, special advisor to the Minister of Social Development RSA, explained that the widely held belief of teenage girls having babies to access child support grants is a fallacy. “There is no supporting evidence. Most women who access these grants are actually in their 30s.”
“The Development is busy working on a compulsory Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) programme, to be incorporated into the life orientation curriculum at schools,” concluded Dangor. “The cornerstone of our strategy is to address the issue of responsible childhood sexual activity. The onus is on adults to educate children. We need to inculcate their rights and responsibilities as sexually active citizens. Denial of childhood sexuality and failure of sexual socialisation is at the root of children fearing opening up to adults, and not seeking help or advice from the appropriate sources. But we cannot do this alone. Youth educators, health practitioners, parents and caregivers all need to be more accessible and accountable.”
Do you think Sex Ed should be a compulsory school subject? If so, from what Grade do you think it should be introduced?
