COLOMBO – Sri Lanka will introduce amendments to the Penal Code to make raping of male children a criminal offence.
Sri Lanka’s law does not effectively recognize male rape. Section 363(e) of the Penal Code of Sri Lanka specifically protects girls and fails to recognize that boys can be victims of rape.
The country is also looking to close loopholes in the law on the rape of females, the Cabinet of Ministers decided at Wednesday’s (34) meeting, a statement from the Department of Information said.
It noted that approval had been given to ‘introduce amendments to the Penal Code to amend laws on constitutional rape of females mentioned in the Penal Code, to correct the shortcomings in the law of raping of females and to institute raping of male children as a criminal offence, at previous Cabinet meetings held on January 18 and June 28, 2021.
The Attorney General has now cleared the draft bill formulated by the Legal Draftsman, the statement noted, adding that the draft bill will be published in the government gazette notification and submitted to Parliament for approval.
Sri Lanka has high rates of sexual violence and a low rate of sexual literacy with religious leaders preventing children from getting effective sexual education. A recent attempt to include sexual education in the school curriculum was blocked by Buddhist monks.
Several local and international reports have highlighted that young boys remain extremely vulnerable due to the shortcomings in the country’s laws and social taboos and norms.
-economynext.com
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.