A year after the United Progressive Alliance government passed the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, raising the age of consent for sex from 16 years to 18, the Group of Ministers (GoM) set up on Tuesday to suggest changes in the new draft law to check crimes against women has recommended reducing it to 16.
Currently, Section 375 of the IPC says that one of the conditions for rape is that the woman, “with or without her consent… is under sixteen years of age.” If this provision goes through, then the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 will have to be amended to bring it in line with this law.
With the GoM, headed by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, completing its deliberations here on Wednesday evening, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013 is now ready for the Union Cabinet which will meet on Thursday to clear it.
The GoM has also recommended, in deference to the demands made by women’s groups, that the expression “sexual assault” be replaced by the word “rape”, and that the act be made gender-specific and used to describe the rape of a woman by a man, not a rape of a man by a man.
In an effort to put in some safeguards, the first offence of voyeurism will be bailable and, on the second occasion, non-bailable. But stalking, one of the most contentious elements in the draft law, will remain a non-bailable offence, government sources said.
Keywords: Anti-rape law, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, Group of Ministers, crimes against women, age of consent, UPA government
Can a 16 year teen "reasonably" think about consensual sex and it's
implication? In our counntry a teen below 18 year can't vote because he
is considered incapable of thinking to choose right candidate in
election.If govt lowers the consent age to 16, they have to amend
juvenile law, pornography laws, child sexual abuse laws etc. I hope govt
will reduce the voting age, age for getting driving liccence, age for
marriage to 16 years, if they think 16 year teen is matuare enough.
Since we cannot think of reducing the age of 18 as per definition of
juvenile, then it will be improper to give a useless right of consent
for sex to minors who are below age-18 but above age-16.
I pray the cabinet to take note of disadvantages to sexual victims if
the age limit for ‘consent for sex’ is not maintained at age-18 and
reduced to age-16. Let all new measures except the amendment for the
said age limit (from age-18 to age-16) replace the Criminal Law
(Amendment) Bill, 2012, introduced in Lok Sabha in December,2012.
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