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BEIJING, Aug. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- The National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee -- China's top legislature is debating repealing the crime of having sex with underage girls and reclassifying it as rape, which would call for much tougher punishment. Lawmakers deliberated the draft amendment to the Criminal Law at a panel discussion on Tuesday.
Do those who sexually abuse minors get due punishment? That question has been on the minds of law makers for a long time. Under the current law, people who have sex with girls less than 14 years old now face a maximum of 15 years in prison while those convicted of raping a child may face a death sentence.
Legal professionals have been questioning whether to scrap the crime of sex with underage girls since it was written into the Criminal Law in 1997. The top Legislature has carried out multiple investigations on the issue and consulted academics and specialists.
The establishment of having sex with underage girls as a crime was intended to increase the protection of minors, but in practice, it has caused more controversy because lighter penalties were imposed on the offenders and that brought complaints from the families of the victims.
The conflicting provisions also have helped offenders escape harsher punishment by allowing them to claim that the underage girl consented to the encounter and was paid.
"I've stated many times that we should delete the term. There is no need to define such a crime. Having sex with minors should be considered rape, no matter who she is and what she does," said Wang Mingwen, member of NPC standing Committee.
Moreover, the crime imposed a stigma on the young girls who might have engaged in forced prostitution, and even though they were victims, "prostitute" forever became the girls' label.
"Having sex with underage girls is something extremely vile that should be firmly cracked down upon. We should specify terms in the law to protect the minors," said Xin Chunying, member of NPC standing Committee.
The draft amendment also says that seriously corrupt people who have been given two-year suspended death sentences will face life imprisonment after the two years have passed. In addition, the draft amendment provides tougher sentences for assaults on on-duty police officers. The draft will be put to a vote on Saturday.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
