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Nairobi (dpa) - Ten of Kenya's 18 female MPs stormed out of parliament accusing one of their male colleagues of trivialising rape during debates to overhaul the country's 76-year-old sexual offences bill, according to news reports Thursday.
MP Paddy Ahenda's reference to women as "shy creatures who must be sweet-talked into marriage" while saying that the bill was too harsh and would discourage men from getting married sparked the angry walkout.
The new bill seeks stiffer penalties for sexual offenders and includes male rape, paedophilia and sexual harassment as non-bailable offences. Rape survivors would also get free treatment and care at public hospitals.
Parliamentary debate has been dominated by the majority male members, some of whom have said that they risk not to be re-elected if they support the bill which outlaws sex with anyone younger than 18 years old.
The current age of consent excludes customary marriages. Some communities force girls as young as 12 to wed.
Public anger at increasing incidences of child rape has sparked a vocal but mostly women-led movement challenging the country's current weak laws in fighting sex-related crimes.
It is estimated that a woman is raped every half an hour in Kenya.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
