The age of sexual consent should not be a one-size-fits-all rule.

Compiled from: Guangzhou Daily, The Paper
 
On May 22, 2020, the third session of the 13th National People's Congress will convene in Beijing. Among the proposals, one submitted by Zhu Lieyu, a deputy to the National People's Congress, has attracted attention. The specific content is:It is recommended to amend the Criminal Law so that the age of sexual consent should be raised to 18 for relationships involving guardianship, teacher-student, or managerial ties; for romantic partners with an age difference of no more than 5 years, the age of sexual consent should remain at 14; and for all other general circumstances, the age of sexual consent should be raised to 16.

 
One, For those in relationships involving guardianship, teacher-student, or managerial roles, the age of sexual consent should be raised to 18.
1. China's current legislation
Currently, China's Criminal Law stipulates that anyone who has sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 14 shall be convicted of rape, regardless of whether the girl was coerced or consented, because a girl under that age lacks the capacity to give sexual consent.
 
In October 2013, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued the Opinions on Punishing Crimes of Sexual Assault against Minors in Accordance with the Law, which stated: "Where a person with special duties toward a female minor who has reached the age of fourteen exploits his advantageous position or the victim's helpless and isolated situation to force the minor victim into submission and engages in sexual intercourse with her, he shall be convicted and punished for rape."
 
The opinion only addresses situations where a minor victim is forced into submission; it does not clarify whether a minor’s consent to sexual activity with a person in a special position of responsibility is valid when sexual activity occurs within a specific relationship between the parties.
 
2. Current Foreign Legislation
Zhu Lieyu mentioned in the proposal: “Foreign laws, in protecting the sexual rights of underage females, have generally chosen to impose stricter regulations on the age of sexual consent for underage females in relationships of trust.”
 
The German Criminal Code stipulates that a person who has custody or protective responsibility over a minor must wait until the minor reaches the age of 18 to engage in sexual relations with them. The UK Sexual Offences Act provides that for groups in positions of special trust, such as teachers and students, guardians and wards, the age of sexual consent for minors is 18.
 
3. The Necessity of Amending This Legal Provision
In practice, the age of sexual consent at 14 is actually relatively low. In China, even when underage females have reached the age of 14, they often still lack sufficient maturity to understand their own sexual behavior. Zhu Lieyu mentioned a set of data in his proposal: a survey conducted by the research group of the Sichuan Research Center for Sexuality and Sex Education at Chengdu Technological University showed that among 3,416 minors aged 13 to 17, as many as 13.93% of them said they “did not know” whether they had been subjected to sexual abuse.
 
In light of the recent case involving Bao Moumou, who was suspected of sexually assaulting his adopted daughter, as well as multiple cases of teachers sexually assaulting students, it is evident that in the absence of sex education for minors, individuals with special duties such as guardianship, education, training, rescue, caregiving, and medical treatment over minors can exploit their positions of advantage to coerce or induce underage females, placing them in a vulnerable or isolated state, thereby causing minor females over the age of 14 to express consent to their sexual advances. Therefore, it is highly necessary to appropriately adjust the age of sexual consent for minor females in such circumstances.
 

 
Part Two For romantic partners with an age difference of no more than 5 years, the age of sexual consent remains 14.
1. China's current legislation
In addition to the provisions of the Criminal Law, the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Trial of Juvenile Criminal Cases provides: “If a person who has reached the age of 14 but is under the age of 16 occasionally engages in sexual acts with a young girl, and the circumstances are minor and no serious consequences have been caused, it shall not be deemed a crime.”
 
2. Current legislation in the Taiwan region
The "Criminal Code" of the Taiwan region of China also provides that "if both parties to sexual intercourse are under the age of 18, the defendant may have his or her punishment reduced or remitted."
 
3. The Necessity of Amending This Legal Provision
The rationale behind both of the above provisions is to take actual circumstances into account. In reality, sexual behavior among minors objectively exists. If the age of sexual consent for minors is strictly restricted across the board, while protecting underage females from sexual assault, it may also lead to the loss of their reasonable sexual autonomy.
 
Therefore, Zhu Lieyu suggested amending the Criminal Law so that the age of sexual consent remains 14 for romantic partners with an age difference of no more than 5 years.
 

 
III. In other general circumstances, the age of sexual consent is raised to 16 years old.
1. China's current legislation
From the above, it can be seen that the current criminal law only stipulates the age of sexual consent at 14, but in reality, this no longer meets practical needs.
 
2. Current Foreign Legislation
Taking Asian countries as examples, both South Korea and Japan set the age of sexual consent at 13 in their criminal laws. However, South Korea has raised this age to 19 through special legislation, and local self-governing bodies in Japan have also enacted youth protection ordinances prohibiting sexual acts with minors under the age of 18.
 
Western countries generally have relatively high ages of sexual consent, with France setting it at 15, the United Kingdom at 16, and Russia at 16; the age of sexual consent varies among U.S. states, ranging from 16 to 18.
 
3. The Necessity of Amending This Legal Provision
In our country, sex education for minors is inadequate. Most minors between the ages of 14 and 16 have not yet developed a clear understanding of sexual assault, and their ability to protect themselves against potential sexual abuse remains insufficient. Therefore, the most direct and effective way to prevent crimes of sexual assault against minors is to amend the relevant provisions on the crime of statutory rape in China’s Criminal Law, raise the age of sexual consent, and improve the corresponding supporting legal measures.