Old enough to say yes to sex?

This also makes me wonder why the lowering of consent age for sex is being spearheaded by a 'feminist' senior advocate and why feminist activists are silent at this critical juncture. I'm reminded of Bob Dylan's 'Blowin' in the wind' song. To adapt: how many years must a girl walk down before you call her a woman? The Kerala High Court has gone ahead with criminal proceedings against a married man accused of repeatedly raping his 17-year-old child wife. The judge held that the marriage, solemnised under Muslim religious rites, is still governed by the statutes of Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POSCO) Act, 2012, which identifies girls and boys below 18 years of age as children. The Act safeguards the children from sexual harassment, sexual assault and pornography. This judgement is significant in several ways. One, it safeguards minor girls' rights, overriding Muslim Personal Law with regard to minor marriage cases. Two, it upholds the legality of the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act,2006, which stipulates 18 and 21 as the minimum age for marriage for girls and boys respectively. Three, it underlines the importance of a Universal Civil Code (UCC) to ensure statutory adherence to legal rights of girl children. Four, the judgement sets the tone for the ongoing Nipun Saxena vs Union of India case in the Supreme Court where the petitioner is arguing for reduction in the statutory age of consent for sex from 18 to 16 years. A private foundation has intervened to oppose this lowering of age, arguing that this will significantly enhance risk of sexual exploitation of adolescent girls because wooing begins even earlier than the legal consent age. In this age when girls are 'growing-up' faster in many ways thanks to market outreach and ubiquitous social media, when the onset of puberty is much earlier, and when the onset of adolescent romance is from middle school onwards, what should be the legal age of consent for sex for young girls? The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind. Or is it? Let us move from nurturing to nature and talk about science. According to neuroscience and developmental psychology, adolescence is the time when the brains of girls and boys are being 'rewired.' The frontal grey matter reaches maturation by the early teens. However, emotional maturity, defined by functions such as decision-making, taking responsibility, planning and impulse control, lags behind because the prefrontal cortex area develops far slower. Longitudinal studies now say the prefrontal cortex, the central front portion of the brain, matures, on an average, by around the mid-20s. Adolescents in their late teens are typically primed for extreme and strong emotions, risky behaviour, peak peer sensitivity to friends and hyper-sensitivity to their ecosystem. Reducing the consent age for sex at this stage in life threatens to be a regressive step for the society at large. Especially for girls who are more exposed than boys to sexual exploitation and experience more long-term and life-altering consequences of sexual assault. More behavioural research is required on age and consent for sex to back any legal change. Available literature reveals two key aspects which do not support lowering of consent age for sex. One, several studies state that younger people give consent to sex although they have no personal desire to do so. This may be influenced by the larger environment and inner immaturity. Two, girls and boys practice consent differently with girls often reporting passive/no response consent cues and being passive receptors of men's sexual advances. This also makes me wonder why the lowering of consent age for sex is being spearheaded by a 'feminist' senior advocate and why feminist activists are silent at this critical juncture. This silence is very loud given their decades-long struggle to free girls and women from patriarchy and sexual exploitation. To revert to Bob Dylon's song: the answer is not blowin' in the wind here. The answer is well evidenced by science and behavioural research. Time for feminists to ensure that justice is delivered. Disclaimer : Views expressed above are the author's own.