Conceptualising children as sexual beings: pre-colonial sexuality education among the Gĩkũyũ of Kenya.

Based on oral history accounts elicited from 25 Gĩkũyũ elders in Kenya, this paper describes a non-penetrative sexual practice,ngweko, permitted for the sake of pleasure and sexual release among circumcised and unmarried young people in the Gĩkũyũ community. Lessons that can be learned from the pre-colonial Gĩkũyũ sexuality culture are identified, and possible implications for contemporary sexuality education explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]