JYAN calls for greater sex education

The Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network (JYAN) is calling for a broader conversation about children engaging in sexual activity and the growing risks associated with recording and sharing explicit material.

JYAN executive director Carolyn Bowden said while children should be discouraged from engaging in sexual activity, parents, teachers and other adults must also equip young people with information about sexual health, digital safety and the potentially devastating consequences of creating or sharing intimate images.

“The fact of the matter is young people are having sex, children are having sex,” Bowden said.

She said greater awareness is particularly important because material involving children can cause lasting harm once it enters the digital space, where it can be repeatedly shared and difficult, if not impossible, to fully remove.

“If it is that they’re under the age, ideally, we discourage them from having sexual activity, but understanding that if they are going to do so, they’re doing so safely, and that they’re ensuring that they’re not putting out images, whether explicit or otherwise that can be misconstrued, can be circulated, and can bring harm to them,” Bowden reasoned.

Under Jamaican law, the age of sexual consent is 16, meaning a child under 16 cannot legally consent to sexual intercourse, even if the child appears to have willingly participated. However, the law provides separate protections for minors in relation to sexually explicit material. A person under 18 cannot legally give consent for the publication of intimate images, and materials.

Bowden stressed that adults should not seek, request, possess or circulate sexually explicit material involving children, regardless of whether a child appears to have participated willingly.

Under Jamaica’s Child Pornography (Prevention) Act, it is an offence to produce, distribute, import, export or possess child pornography. The legislation also criminalises the use of children in the production of such material and provides for penalties that include imprisonment of up to 20 years and fines of up to $500,000.

For Bowden, however, the issue extends beyond the law. She said children need frank, age-appropriate conversations about sexual behaviour and the risks of allowing intimate moments to be captured digitally.

JYAN is, therefore, urging parents, educators and other adults to take a more active role in protecting children both offline and online, while ensuring that suspected abuse is brought to the attention of the relevant authorities.