More than three decades ago a Bill to have the age of consent raised from 14 years to 16 years was tabled in the House of Representatives by then Minister of Youth and Community Development Mr Edmund Bartlett.

At the time, Mr Bartlett said the Bill amending the Offences Against the Person Act was in keeping with the then Government’s position that young girls under the age of 16 were not considered mature enough to assume responsibilities in relation to motherhood and child rearing.

The situation, he said, had become troubling because the data relating to teen pregnancy showed that, during the previous year, there were more than 5,000 births to girls aged 16 years and under.

“What is very clear here is that our young people are becoming very active sexually at a tender age, and they are not escaping the consequences of it,” Mr Bartlett said.

The Bill, which was eventually passed, made it a criminal offence to engage in sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 years. The penalty was seven years’ imprisonment.

Additionally, the amendment increased from two years in prison to life — the punishment for any owner, occupier or manager of any premises found guilty of inducing girls under 14 years of age to such premises for sexual purposes.

During the debate, Mr Bartlett accepted that the law, in isolation, would not be effective enough. It had to be strengthened by social and community action, public education, as well as more facilities, not just for enforcement, but for counselling and guidance.

He was, of course, correct.

Ironically, the need for those social and educational interventions still exist today and may even be greater than 30 years ago. That is why we believe that the call made by Opposition Senator Damion Crawford last week for the age of consent to be increased to 18 years is not the answer to the problems of teenage pregnancy and sexual abuse of young girls by adults.

These are deeply ingrained issues with which the country has been wrestling for many years. Indeed, there are communities in which adults, who know better, provide cover to the perpetrators of these types of activities because they benefit from money or goods. In some cases their silence is motivated by shame.

In yesterday’s edition we reported that for the academic year 2021/22 there were 585 teen moms enrolled at the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation. For the year 2020/21 the number was 264, while for 2019/20 the number stood at 413, and for 2018/19 it was 518.

Bearing in mind that not all teen mothers seek help from the Women’s Centre we can comfortably conclude that the numbers are higher islandwide.

Getting over the problem will not be easy, especially given that it is already proving difficult to enforce the laws that protect children under 16 years old from sexual abuse. But we cannot give up. As such, the State, its agencies, the Church, people who wield huge influence over the population, and other individuals who are respected should, as UNICEF Jamaica states, help build strong child protection agencies; foster responsive and caring families, communities, and social institutions; and provide children with access to relevant knowledge and life skills which can help them make safe and healthy decisions.