The Sexual Offenses Act, signed into power by South African President Thabo Mbeki, criminalizes kissing among people under 16.
The South African government says the new law is aimed at clamping down on sexual abuse of children by adults, but it places heavy restrictions on consensual adolescent behavior.
As a result, teenagers are in an uproar. Groups on Facebook are protesting against the law.
“It‘s taking away our freedom of choice, and is against our human rights,” says one student.
Others are designing protests such as “Kiss in protest!” exclaiming that “the SA moral police has gone too far!” and claiming, “If we all kiss, they can‘t do anything to us.”
One group leader is calling on “all young people (and older ones who want to show their support) to get together in groups in public places every Saturday of January to ‘make out’ in protest against the law.”
Despite the groundswell of grassroots opposition, the South African Government is holding to its claim that the goal is not to restrict adolescents’ rights, but to protect them from adult predators.
Policing the law, the government claims, would only come into effect should the parents report the offence. Therefore, what the law may do in actuality is give parents more leverage in restricting their own child’s sexual behaviors – at least those that they know about.
(The News is Now Public 1/4/08)
Do you talk to your students about sexual boundaries? Where does kissing fall in the opinion of your students? Do you think the South African government has “botched” this one up?
