To find out whether men prowl Internet chatrooms and lure young girls into meeting them for sex, Straits Times reporter Cheryl Tan posed as a 13 year-old schoolgirl and received one indecent proposal after another. Even though she made it clear that she was merely 13, that did not deter the men from asking indecent questions such as "What's your vital statistics?" or making offers to meet up at hotels. Only 10 men dropped out of the conversations after knowing that the person they were talking to was a minor.
These men did not seem worried that, under the law, it is illegal to have sex with a girl under the age of 16. The punishment, according to Singapore law, for statutory rape is severe - the culprit will be jailed at least eight years and given a minimum 12 strokes of the cane. Despite this, the number of men reported to the police for having sex with underage girls has shot up over the last six years. Last year, the police received 217 reports of men who had sex with underage girls, almost double the 114 cases in 2001 and just last month, three men aged between 18 and 23 were in court for having sex with a minor. The girl was only 12.
This is a worrying trend, especially when number of cases seem to be doubling every few years. It is absolutely important to curb this problem before our societal and moral values get drowned in the tide of such promiscuous activities.
I suggest a three-pronged approach to solve this problem. Education, counselling and incapacitation.
Education. The government should enforce the civics and moral education curriculum in schools, making it a more substantial lesson instead of just a minor one when commpared to content-based subjects. Its importance should be highlighted and emphasised to the students. For example, issues such as morality as well as chastity should be properly discussed and teachers should provide the correct example for students to follow. As such, students will understand that it is not morally right to engage in any underage sexual activities, and that such actions will have serious repurcussions and dire consequences.
Counselling. This works for both the minors as well as the adults. Counselling help counsellors understand their rationale for engaging in such activities and when there is a wrong mindset, it can be rectified in time before they become chronic offenders. For example, many adults feel that there is nothing wrong with engaging in sexual activities with minors and vice versa. This mindset can be changed when counsellors explain to them the punishment for their actions as well as unwanted consequences such as pregnancy and STDs.
Lastly, incapacitation. This is for chronic offenders who simply cannot get a hold of their actions and thus will repeat their offence if not put on leash. It will thus be best for them to be stashed in some rehabilitation centres or prison to protect both them and the society. Currently, the law may be a little to lax on such offenders. It would be better for these offenders to be locked away for a longer period of time.
If these 3 structures are in place, I believe that number of cases of statutory rape will fall dramatically, and societal and moral values will not be lost among the people after all.
These men did not seem worried that, under the law, it is illegal to have sex with a girl under the age of 16. The punishment, according to Singapore law, for statutory rape is severe - the culprit will be jailed at least eight years and given a minimum 12 strokes of the cane. Despite this, the number of men reported to the police for having sex with underage girls has shot up over the last six years. Last year, the police received 217 reports of men who had sex with underage girls, almost double the 114 cases in 2001 and just last month, three men aged between 18 and 23 were in court for having sex with a minor. The girl was only 12.
This is a worrying trend, especially when number of cases seem to be doubling every few years. It is absolutely important to curb this problem before our societal and moral values get drowned in the tide of such promiscuous activities.
I suggest a three-pronged approach to solve this problem. Education, counselling and incapacitation.
Education. The government should enforce the civics and moral education curriculum in schools, making it a more substantial lesson instead of just a minor one when commpared to content-based subjects. Its importance should be highlighted and emphasised to the students. For example, issues such as morality as well as chastity should be properly discussed and teachers should provide the correct example for students to follow. As such, students will understand that it is not morally right to engage in any underage sexual activities, and that such actions will have serious repurcussions and dire consequences.
Counselling. This works for both the minors as well as the adults. Counselling help counsellors understand their rationale for engaging in such activities and when there is a wrong mindset, it can be rectified in time before they become chronic offenders. For example, many adults feel that there is nothing wrong with engaging in sexual activities with minors and vice versa. This mindset can be changed when counsellors explain to them the punishment for their actions as well as unwanted consequences such as pregnancy and STDs.
Lastly, incapacitation. This is for chronic offenders who simply cannot get a hold of their actions and thus will repeat their offence if not put on leash. It will thus be best for them to be stashed in some rehabilitation centres or prison to protect both them and the society. Currently, the law may be a little to lax on such offenders. It would be better for these offenders to be locked away for a longer period of time.
If these 3 structures are in place, I believe that number of cases of statutory rape will fall dramatically, and societal and moral values will not be lost among the people after all.
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