By Shauna Jemmott

THE Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) is calling on the Government to align the age of consent with the age of majority, because Guyana has the second highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the Caribbean, and teens below eighteen years old are prevented from legally accessing contraceptives.GRPA Programme Director Renuka Anandjit made this call on Tuesday at a seminar hosted by the Women and Gender Equality Commission, in collaboration with the University of Guyana’s Institute of Gender Studies.

The seminar, held in observance of International Women’s Day, saw participation from various governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). It primarily focused on achievements, gaps, challenges and recommendations in gender legislation; gender and development and SDG Goal 5; and mechanisms and examples of gender budgeting from the Caribbean Region and SIDS.

Anandjit belaboured the point that, while the objective of civil society and NGOs is to create access, the GRPA is deeply concerned about the disparity between the age of consent and the age of majority in Guyana, a gap which increases vulnerability to teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

She said: “The fact that the age of consent is 16, and the age of majority is 18…to me, our gap is a very big gap. We can have sex at 16, but I can’t access contraceptives without parental permission until I am 18.”

According to Chapter 109, Sections 2 and 3 of the Representation of the People Act, the legal age of majority is 18 years. In 2005, the National Assembly fixed the age of sexual consent at 16, changing an age-old Bill which had made 13 the legal age of consent.

But then Minister of Labour, Dr Dale Bisnauth, reportedly told members of the House, in October 2005, that although a considerable number of stakeholders were in favour of 18 as the age of consent, the fact that 18 was also the age of majority was enough to convince the committee to decide against it.

The mere idea that someone aged 16 can legally consent to sexual intercourse but cannot legally access contraceptives, Anandjit argues, increases vulnerability for teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

INCREASING VULNERABILITY
“That means (that) we, as a State, are increasing the vulnerability of our young people, and we are directly contributing to the teenage pregnancy rates and broken homes… And we’re looking at socio-economic indications of the existence of this one,” she said.

Anandjit, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Saturday, called for the age of majority to be aligned with the age of consent, in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies. She said many other social issues arise as a result of teenage pregnancy, including early school leaving; economic hardship; teen parents being stigmatised by their families and communities; and as a result relationships, too, being jeopardised.

According to Anandjit, a GRPA survey found that many young people are sexually active, even though the more educated ones are more likely to delay sexual activity.

She said, “The State has a role in protecting our young people,” and pointed out that there is need for a push for the National Policy on Sexual and Reproductive Health to be passed in the National Assembly next year.

Such a Bill, she said, should encompass the age of consent and access to sex education in a holistic manner where sexual reproductive health of the individual is concerned.

“It’s something that we really need to address urgently, especially looking at the fact that we have such a high rate of teenage pregnancy locally; but we’re also one of the highest in the region. That should be of utmost priority for us!” Anandjit iterated.

According to the 2013 State of the World Population Report, Guyana’s teen pregnancy rate is the second highest in the Caribbean region. With a birth rate of 97 per 1,000 adolescent girls, Guyana is second only to the Dominican Republic, which, with a rate of 98 per every 1,000 teens, is the highest in the Caribbean.

According to the report, “In every region of the world, impoverished, poorly educated and rural girls are more likely to become pregnant than their wealthier, urban, educated counterparts.

“Girls who are from an ethnic minority or marginalised group, who lack choices and opportunities in life, or who have limited or no access to sexual and reproductive health — including contraceptive information and services — are also more likely to become pregnant,” she declared.