27 contribute to and exacerbate this problem have been highlighted by the South African Law Reform Commission.2 [63] To my mind, it is clear that the establishment of a legal age of consent to sexual activities – a chronological age which is a line separating ‘valid’ and ‘invalid’ consent – is perfectly in line with South Africa’s constitutional and international obligations. The State has a duty to protect children against sexual exploitation and the consequences thereof where such children have not reached an age at which, in the majority of cases, the child in question will have the requisite cognitive development and intellectual maturity to fully understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of sexual activities and to be able to give an informed consent to such activities. I therefore do not accept the argument that s 14(1)(b) of the Sexual Offences Act is unconstitutional in that it sets the general legal age of consent by either boys or girls to sexual intercourse and other sexual activities at higher than 12 years, even though there may be individual cases where the boy or girl in question might be capable of forming an intention and participating voluntarily in such sexual acts. [64] This brings me to the further constitutional question which this Court specifically drew to the attention of the parties and of the Minister before the hearing, namely whether the distinction drawn in s 14 of the Act between heterosexual and same-sex sexual activities by setting the legal age of consent at 16 and 19 years, respectively, is inconsistent with the Constitution. On the face of it, the samesex/heterosexual legal age of consent distinction drawn in s 14 of the Act does unfairly discriminate against persons on the grounds of their sexual orientation, even when viewed in the light of the State’s constitutional and international obligations to protect young people against, inter alia, sexual exploitation. 2 See Issue Paper, Project 108 Sexual Offences against Children (31 May 1997) Chapter 3. An interesting perspective, by South African children themselves, on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and abuse can be found in Children’s Rights Project (1998-1999) Report on Children’s Rights: ‘They should listen to our side of the story’ (a publication of the Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape) part H.