Senator: Stop child abuse

Reminding senators that persons under the age of 18 years cannot vote, Stewart said, “The concern is here is that why should we as a nation continue a practice that allows girls to become brides and boys to become bridegrooms at an an age where they cannot give consent to sex.” She continued, “Anyone under the age of 18 years, if you engage with someone over the age, it could be called statutory rape. So we are saying yes to statutory rape if we continue to allow these laws on our law books.”

Telling senators she was married on New Year’s Day at the age of 30 years, Stewart said marriage involves maturity and responsibility.As she reflected on her childhood memories from her home in Tobago, Stewart said no 12 year old child should have a memory of, “walking down the aisle to meet someone as old as Mommy and Daddy.”

The senator also indicated that research conducted by different international organisations such as UNICEF that girls who are married under the age of 18 years are more prone to various mental illnesses.

Stewart told her senatorial colleagues that they were being offered a “once in a generation opportunity” to do something to prevent children from being deprived of their childhood.