LAWS-TEENS-SEX · Relooking at Statutory Rape Laws in Malaysia: Psychosocial Characteristics of Sexual Relations among Underage and Adult-Child Partners, Sexual Motives and Perception of the Criminal Justice Personnel

Relooking at Statutory Rape Laws in Malaysia: Psychosocial Characteristics of Sexual Relations among Underage and Adult-Child Partners, Sexual Motives and Perception of the Criminal Justice Personnel

Context: Statutory rape laws are designed to protect children from the manipulation of adults to engage in sexual intercourse . According to the laws, engaging in sexual intercourse with children below the ages set by the law (the age of consent) are considered as rape, whether or not the child is consenting. In Malaysia, the age of consent is 16 years old. While considered necessary, statutory rape laws are not exempted from controversies. In Malaysia, statutory rape laws are regularly enforced which signs Malaysia’s commitment to uphold and ensure regular implementation of children’s protection from manipulative or coerced sexual relations. However, these enforcements are not only against adults, but also children themselves who are male. Malaysia’s Penal Code, Section 375 specifies that only females are recognized as a gender that can be victimized with rape. The implication from this is significant. Mainly, when males are thought to be the only ones who can rape (adults and children alike), this leads to the criminalization of sexual relations between two children who are in the same age level (close-in-age partners) as male children are also thought to be capable of rape. This harms their developmental trajectories. Overarching objective: This research aims to understand the presupposed assumption of deviance in sexual behavior of male adolescents with their peers who happen to be underage. This requires data from different angles of the phenomenon. The results of this project would inform policies related to the criminalization of sexual behavior of male adolescents with their underage peers. Objectives: 1) To explore the perception of the criminal justice system personnel (i.e., prosecutors, police officers and probation officers) towards the implementation of statutory rape laws on adolescents in Malaysia. 2) To investigate the psychosocial characteristics (sexual and antisocial dimensions) of sexual relations involving two close-in-age children in comparison with sexual relations involving adults and children. 3) To explore the psychosocial-cultural motivations behind the pursuance of sexual relationships among Asian adolescents.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union