A look at laws across countries aimed to act as deterrents for child sexual abuse
Illustrations/Ravi Jadhav
As the demand for stringent punishment for child sexual abuse grows across the nation after the brutal confinement, rape and murder of an eight-year-old in Kathua, even as a similar crime was unearthed in Surat, how do other countries protect their children? What kind of punishment is meted out to offenders? Here is an overview of child sexual abuse laws and punishment for offenders in other countries, and under POCSO in India. Even as this page goes to print, the Law Ministry is contemplating changes in POCSO to introduce the death penalty to those convicted of sexually abusing children up to age 12 years, the Supreme Court was informed yesterday.
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Indonesia
After president Joko Widodo proposed changes in May 2016, Indonesia's parliament passed laws regarding chemical castration, minimum sentences and execution for convicted paedophiles. Paedophiles can be sentenced to death or tagged electronically, and given a minimum 10-year sentence for child sexual abuse.
The USA
Penalties for child sexual abuse vary with the specific offences for which the perpetrator has been convicted. They may include imprisonment, fines, registration as a sex offender, and restrictions on probation and parole. The different states have different laws and sentences for child sexual abuse. In Massachusetts for instance, the rape of a child under 16 years gets up to life in state prison. Statutory rape (sexual relations with someone below age of consent) also gets up to life in state prison. California was the first state to specify chemical castration as a punishment for child molestation after modification to the California penal code in 1996.
India
In order to effectively address the heinous crimes of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children through less ambiguous and more stringent legal provisions, the Ministry of Women and Child Development championed the introduction of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The Act aims to protect children from the offences of - sexual assault; sexual harassment; and pornography. Also to establish special courts for speedy trial of such offences. The Act defines a child as a person below the age of 18 years. The minimum imprisonment for child sexual assault under the Act is 3 years. Penetrative Sexual Assault on a child will get a punishment not less than seven years which may extend to imprisonment for life, and a fine under the Act. Aggravated Penetrative Sexual Assault will get not less than 10 years which may extend to imprisonment for life, and a fine. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights is mandated to monitor the implementation of the Act.
The UK
The four countries have their own laws for child sexual abuse. The sentencing for child sexual abuse also depends on the age of the child, the relationship of the offender with him/her and whether the offence was repeated. The sentence for rape of a child under 13 years of age is life under the Sexual Offences Act, 2003, inâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088England and Wales. Causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity can lead to imprisonment for 14 years.
Thailand
In Thailand, which is struggling to fight child sex abuse, for sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 13, the sentence is imprisonment from 7 to 20 years.
Australia
Each jurisdiction has different punishments. For example, in NSW, in case the child is under the age of 10 years, the sentence can be 25 years/ life imprisonment.
36,022
Number of cases recorded under the POCSO Act, 2012, in 2016 according to the National Crime Records Bureau
7
Number of years of imprisonment for penetrative sexual assault on a child under POCSO
3
Number of years of minimum imprisonment for child sexual assault under POCSO
Inputs by Rahul Mahajani
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