Bill seeks to let 12-yr-olds have non-penetrative sex

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Bill seeks to let 12-yr-olds have non-penetrative sex

1 Feb, 2011 0056hrs IST TNN[ Arun Ram ]

CHENNAI: Twelve-year-old children will be legally permitted to have

non-penetrative sex with children their age, according to a draft Protection of

Children From Sexual Offences Bill, 2010, that has been sent to states by the

ministry of women and child development for their views.

The Bill also seeks to introduce a gradation in the age of consensual

non-penetrative sex (12-14 years and 14-16 years) against the existing age of

consent for sex which is 16 years. It proposes that in case of the age group

12-14, the maximum age gap between partners should be two years. For the 14-16

group, the maximum gap should be three years.

The age of consent in the US is between 16 and 18 years, depending on the state

they live in; in the UK it is 16. Spain has one of the lowest ages of consent,

at 13 years.

While a senior official of the ministry of women and child development confirmed

that the Bill has been sent to state governments, law minister Veerappa Moily

said he was not aware of it. ``Twelve years is anyway not a proper age for a

sexual act,`` he told TOI.

Section 3 of the proposed Bill lists under exceptions of unlawful sexual act

with a child:

(i) Any consensual non-penetrative sexual act penalised by this chapter is not

an offence when engaged in between two children who are both over 12 years of

age and are either of the same age or whose ages are within two years of each

other.

(ii) when engaged in between two persons who are both over 14 years of age and

are either of the same age or whose ages are within three years of each other

The Bill will soon be sent to the cabinet, after which a parliamentary standing

committee will scrutinise it. Suggestions and objections from the states will be

considered then, said a senior official at the ministry of women and child

development.

The law ministry too has been working on a similar Bill with an identical name,

in which the age of consent is mentioned as 16 years, with no gradation as

suggested by the new Bill. The circulation of two Bills with the same title has

created confusion in the government.

Opinion on the minimum age are divided. Aparna Bhat, a Supreme Court lawyer who

was part of a National Commission for Protection of Child Rights group that

drafted the latest Bill said the gradation of age down to 12 years was to

decriminalise sexual exploration by two children.

Under the existing law, if two 12-year-olds get physical and if one childs

parent complains, the other can be pulled up by the Juvenile Justice Board. The

panel felt such minor things should be decriminalised, she said.

Raaj Mangal, chairperson of Delhi Child Welfare Committee said the Bill could

prove ``disastrous`` if it comes into effect. ``Twelve, given the mind and

maturity of a child, is not an age to give consent, be it penetrative or

non-penetrative sex. In the name of decriminalising, you can`t keep sexual acts

between children out of the notice of the authorities,`` said Mangal.

Former CBI director RK Raghavan felt the attempt to draw a distinction between

an act involving penetration and one not involving penetration will create

confusion in the minds of investigators. ``Disputes regarding the age of the

offender or the victim, which will be many, will dilute the objective of

protecting children,`` he said.

Some others like Nina Nayak, chairperson of Karnataka State Commission for the

protection of child rights, called the Bill ``absolutely unacceptable``. ``The

Juvenile Justice Board is anyway lenient to children in conflict with law. Even

if a minor rapes a minor, the child in conflict with law is just admonished and

sent. There is no need of a new law to make sexual acts between children

permissible,`` she said.

http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/7400208.cms

[Guest guest]

Dear forum,

/message/12496

The name of the bill should be changed to  " exception/protection ......(for

under age date rape/sex etc.) rather than " legalising underage sex.... " and

added into the Juvenile Justice Act.

The intention  behind this law is is good. Biologically in humans

females sexually mature earlier than males and some times take leadership in

sex, but only the later gets in conflict with the  law.

Currently such practices are in vogue in many parts of the world.

Adding to this is the hostile/conservative guardians of the girls taking

the prevailing law unfairly aganist underage boys.

 

This has to be changed.

 

Tito (Adv)

Director, CSRD,

Calicut, Kerala

e-mail: <titothomas123@...>