China to End Loophole in Child Rape Law, Experts Say

For 16 years, children's rights advocates have called on the Chinese government to do away with a law that allows men who have sex with girls under 14 years of age, the legal age of consent, to receive a more lenient punishment than those convicted of raping older girls or women if they can "Prove" that the child was paid or otherwise compensated for sex. The Chinese Supreme Court has indicated to a leading proponent of changing the law, National People's Congress deputy Sun Xiaomei, that it accepts the argument that the law, which has been on the books since 1997, is unfair and wrong. "While we have to wait for the change to become law, and the Supreme Court can't legislate, only the National People's Congress can, we've been told that it is already effectively over," Ms. Zhang said. For years, Ms. Sun, a university colleague of Ms. Zhang, had pushed in the National People's Congress for the law to be changed, as had many others.
Source: NEW YORK TIMES


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