Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer,

Mottley

A Government senator, alarmed at the reported high rate of sexual activity among under-age teenagers, yesterday called for an intensive campaign of abstinence education to curb early sexual initiation.

Making her contribution to a debate on the report tabled, setting out a range of new and amended sexual offences, Senator Donna Scott Mottley was particularly concerned about those involving or targeting children.

She told her colleagues that information available at the ministry of health revealed that 83 per cent of boys and 63 per cent of girls under 15 in Jamaica have already had their first sexual contact.

Age of consent

Senator A.J Nicholson, Leader of Government Business, recoiled in horror at this report as well, saying it was a very worrying sign for the society. The age of consent for sexual intercourse is currently set at 16.

Speaking with The Gleaner after the sitting, Senator Mottley said while legislation, such as the proposed Sexual Offences Act, were important aids in efforts to change the situation, public education and other non-legislative measures were even more crucial.

"Society doesn't always have to react to this break-down in social mores and values by legislating against it," she said. "I think we need to educate our people as to what is appropriate conduct."

Accordingly, Senator Mottley wants the Office of the Children's Advocate to lead the way in launching the proposed public education campaign promotingabstinence.

This campaign, she said, would have a double impact. It would delay sexual initiation and would also save many young people from sexual infections, including HIV/AIDS, which, she said, was taking the lives of a disproportionate number of young people.

"I was very shocked when I read the statistics in the ministry of health that showed that so many young people aged 20 to 44 had died as a result of HIV/AIDS. It means that (many of them) would have had to be sexually active from the age of 13," she argued.

Not wishing to confine the public-education campaign to the state, the Senator is also recommending that entertainers and sports stars be engaged in the effort as well.