Child’s Play or Sexual Abuse? The Efficacy of International Law in Dealing with Child-to-Child Sex: A Ugandan Perspective

Abstract

International and regional laws on children’s rights are fairly well developed and cover aspects of social rights such as the protection of children from sexual abuse. A dilemma remains however on the issue of child-to-child sex leaving many grey areas on how to deal with this predicament at the domestic level. Social and cultural norms that perceive adolescent sexual conduct negatively complicate matters further. This article uses Uganda as a case study to examine the sufficiency of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN CRC) and the African Children’s Charter in protecting child victims involved in child-to-child sex. Further, it interrogates the extent to which the law of Uganda legislates sexual intercourse for persons below the age of eighteen. The focus and backdrop of this article is based on a Ugandan landmark court ruling, that struck down the offence of child-to-child sex. It advocates for the adoption of jurisprudence both through case law as well as General Comments to expound on this critical issue especially at the African regional level where the prevalence of sexual violence by children is increasing. It also calls for less focus on criminalisation, but rather, child-centred interventions that seek to empower children’s participation, information and protection in matters of their sexuality.