Ukrainian MP Iryna Lutsenko proposes to criminalize sex with children under age 16

An adult must bear responsibility for sexual violence against children aged under 16, Ukrainian lawmaker Iryna Lutsenko has recently said.

A bill on amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine to protect children from sexual abuse and sexual exploitation was prepared in cooperation with the International Human Rights Center “La Strada”, the Human Rights Information Centre correspondent reports.

Back in 2012, Ukraine ratified the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. In accordance with the Convention, the Ukrainian legislation should be amended to improve the protection of children. It is primarily referred to the children aged 14-16.

“However, this has not yet happened so far,” La Strada President Kateryna Levchenko said.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, 212 criminal offences under Article 153 “Violent unnatural gratification of sexual desire”, 49 criminal offences under Article 155 “Sexual intercourse with a sexually immature person” , 209 offences under Article 156 “Debauchery of minors” and 509 offences under Article 302 “Creating or running brothels and trading in prostitution” were registered in 2014.

The bill’s authors propose to amend these articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The authors propose to stipulate exact age of a child – under 16 (Article 155), to which it is forbidden to engage in sexual intercourse, even voluntary one, with a child. In accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a child is a citizen or a person under the age of 18 years.

“Our legislation stipulates carrying out of an appropriate medical expert examination of the physiological capabilities of children, whether they have or have not reached sexual maturity till they are 18 years old,” Lutsenko commented.

The bill’s authors insist that clear indication of the age of a child in the law will also prevent corruption component when the forensic examination determines the sexual maturity of a child, and the offenders often “may just buy off.”

“Without amending this article, we now consider almost any commercial sexual relationship with a person as voluntary as the forensic medical examination determines that a child under 14 or 15 has already reached puberty and any unlawful acts towards this child are impossible,” Levchenko emphasizes.

The bill also provides for strengthening criminal liability and the introduction of additional responsibilities and a list of persons who are relatives – father, mother, stepfather, stepmother, guardian (though the bill does not mention grandfather and grandmother, brothers and sisters).

“An adult should understand that sexual relations are not only satisfaction of physiological needs, but they are accompanied by psychological and moral factors. An adult must be responsible for such a development of the children. That is why an adult is determined by the only perpetrator in this article,” Levchenko said.

The “La Strada” President noted that the minors having sex by consent did not bear criminal responsibility.

“This means that nobody criminalizes the relationship between Romeo and Juliet,” Kateryna Levchenko said.

Maryna Lehenka, the co-author of the bill, the lawyer at the “La Strada” centre, is convinced that the medical examination often help to avoid responsibility.

“There are a lot of the nuances about 16-years-old children. Some wonder should we ask for a passport before engaging in sexual intercourse. Yes, if you have doubts, you should ask for. If you have no doubts, then you may engage,” the expert said.

The Parliament’s committee for legislative support of the law enforcement recommended the Verkhovna Rada to pass the bill in the first reading. MP Iryna Lutsenko will soon submit it for consideration in the Parliament.