Hong Kong authorities have put forward a sweeping overhaul of the city’s sexual offences laws, such as broadening the definition of rape, introducing new offences covering non-consensual acts involving children and persons with mental impairment, setting a uniform age of consent at 16, and removing gender-specific provisions. The proposals, which follow the Law Reform Commission’s…
Hong Kong authorities have proposed a major overhaul of outdated sexual offences laws, including criminalising same-sex rape, introducing new offences and establishing a uniform age of consent at 16 while removing gender-specific provisions and increasing penalties. In a 59-page consultation paper submitted to the Legislative Council on Monday, the Security Bureau proposed a series of…
Sexual abuse cases against children under 17 jumped 20 per cent in 2025 from the previous year in Hong Kong, with the security minister vowing to tighten laws that will better protect victims by next June. Police figures presented to legislators on Wednesday showed that there were 797 cases of sexual offences against children last…
Hong Kong police are investigating an allegation that a four-year-old boy was indecently assaulted at an international school in Stanley, with the institution saying its security footage showed “no evidence of any wrongdoing” on the day of the suspected incident. A source said on Wednesday that the International Montessori School kindergarten pupil complained to his…
Including clear, comprehensive definitions of consent in Hong Kong’s reform of sexual offences will provide greater clarity for all parties and better protect victims, as critics have said current interpretations rely on “common sense”, creating legal loopholes. Barrister Stephen Keung Pit-chun said on Saturday that establishing a statutory definition of consent would be key to…
More than 30 groups and individuals have collectively called on the government to close loopholes in Hong Kong’s child sexual offence bill and provide greater protection to survivors. In a paper released on Thursday, the non-profit organisations and professionals also urged the judiciary to review its practice directions to safeguard child abuse victims who often…
It took Eva Chan* more than a decade to find the courage to walk into a police station and report the sexual abuse she had endured for about six years at the hands of a family member she had lived with as a teenager. Reporting the abuse when she was 16 was unimaginable. At the…
Hong Kong has expanded the scope of an opt-in scheme that screens organisations for sex offenders to include volunteers, in a major step that will give greater protection to children and mentally incapacitated individuals. The expansion of the Sexual Conviction Record Check (SCRC) scheme took effect on Monday and was the second of the government’s…
Hong Kong has seen a number of amendments to its criminal law in recent years aimed at strengthening the response to sexual crimes. Notable examples are the new offences in the Crimes Ordinance regarding voyeurism, upskirting and the publication of intimate images without consent. There has also been discussion, including in this column, regarding how…
Hong Kong may introduce laws to cover the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in sex crimes as part of an effort by the administration to amend the ordinance covering sexual offences by the end of its term, the security chief has said. Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung also revealed on Monday that the amendments…