Article 375 and 376A of Singapore’s Penal Code provide marital immunity for sexual activity with minors under the age of 16 who are said to “consent”.
- Country: Singapore
- Law status: Discriminatory law partially amended
- Law Type: Rape
Sex discrimination in laws purporting to address violence, or silence on the issue within the law, can actually promote or perpetuate violence against women and girls because there is little to deter perpetrators from committing crimes or inadequate recourse for victims; intimate partner and sexual violence is disproportionately inflicted upon women and adolescent girls.
Article 375 and 376A of Singapore’s Penal Code provide marital immunity for sexual activity with minors under the age of 16 who are said to “consent”. These provisions encourage “child marriage” and assume the children, mostly girls, are willingly consenting to sexual activity and not coerced merely because they are married to the offender.
The Law
Chapter XVI. Offences Affecting the Human Body.
Article 375. Rape.
(1) Any man who penetrates the vagina of a woman with his penis —
(a) without her consent; or
(b) with or without her consent, when she is under 14 years of age,
shall be guilty of an offence….(1A) Any man (A) who penetrates, with A’s penis, the anus or mouth of another person (B) —
(a) without B’s consent; or
(b) with or without B’s consent, when B is below 14 years of age,
shall be guilty of an offence.”
. . .
(4) No man shall be guilty of an offence under subsection (1)(b) or (1A)(b) for an act of penetration against his wife with her consent.
Article 376A. Sexual Penetration of Minor Under 16.
(1) Any person (A) who
(a) penetrates, with A’s penis, the vagina, anus or mouth, as the case may be, of a
person under 16 years of age (B); . . .
(2) Whoever commits an offence under this section against a person (B) who is of or above 14 years of age but below 16 years of age —
(a) in a case where the offender is in a relationship that is exploitative of B, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 20 years, and shall also be liable to fine or to caning; and
(b) in any other case, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, or with fine, or with both.
(3) Whoever commits an offence under this section against a person (B) who is under 14 years of age shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 20 years, and shall also be liable to fine or to caning.
(4) No person shall be guilty of an offence under this section for an act of penetration against his or her spouse with the consent of that spouse.