Proposal to punish underage victims of sex abuse sparks furore in Malaysia

The Kelantan State police chief has suggested amending the law so that minors who "consent" to sex are also prosecuted along with their adult partners. Malaysia’s federal government and NGOs have reacted harshly to the proposal, which would criminalise victims and reinforce the culture of blaming women. Instead, some groups want the law to protect consensual relationships between peers.

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) – Criticism is mounting in Malaysia over a proposal put forward by Kelantan Police Chief Yusoff Mamat to amend the law so that minors who consent to sex are also punished along with their adult partners.

This idea, which the police chief wants to bring to the attention of the Attorney General's Office, has sparked strong reactions from politicians, Malaysia’s federal government, and children's rights advocates, who denounce the risk of criminalising victims and reinforcing a culture of blame.

For Lim Guan Eng, MP for Bagan and a former finance minister, the proposal is "ethically wrong", and “clearly forsakes” the fundamental duty of law enforcement to protect the most vulnerable.

How can society be protected “when the rape victim is also penalised together with the culprit?” he asked. For him, the proposal is “not just misguided but [showing] a complete lack of sympathy, empathy and compassion for girls who are minors and victims of statutory rape.”

In Malaysia, the age of consent is set at 16. Any sexual intercourse with a minor is considered rape, even if the minor appears to have consented.

According to Lim, the law is meant to “to protect young girls from sexual exploitation due to their tender age as they are not mature and knowledgeable enough to be able to decide on their own to consent to sex.”

The lawmaker urged Yusoff to withdraw the proposal and apologise "for his insensitivity towards women and girls," when in fact the focus should be on the rising cases of sexual violence in the state.

The federal government also reacted to the police chief’s proposal. Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Nancy Shukri reiterated that minors must be guided, rehabilitated, and protected, not punished.

She noted that current laws already provide for support and educational and community programmes for minors in conflict with the law, emphasising that adults bear the primary responsibility for protecting children and that repression must target the perpetrators, not the victims.

The Child Rights Innovation and Betterment (CRIB) Foundation, a child rights advocacy group, also slammed the proposal, calling it regressive and contrary to the spirit of the law.

According to the organisation, “Charging girls under 16 would dangerously reinforce victim-blaming narratives. This is not protection; it is punishment disguised as morality.”

The group instead suggested introducing a "sweetheart defence" clause, already in place in countries such as Canada, South Africa, and several Australian states, which excludes criminal liability for consensual relationships between adolescents with an age difference of no more than three years and without a power imbalance.

This recommendation also reflects the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which Malaysia signed in 2011.

• malaysia
• sexual violence
• statutory rape
• police chief
• kelantan
• punishment