China considers repealing crime of sex with underage prostitutes

BEIJING - China’s top legislature has debated repealing the crime of sex with underage prostitutes and reclassifying it as rape, which would face a tougher punishment.

北京报道-中国最高立法机关已经就是否取消嫖宿幼女罪而定性为强奸罪进行审议，一旦成立，将面临更为严重的处罚。

The National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee deliberated the draft amendment to the Criminal Law as its six-day bimonthly legislative session started on Monday.

全国人民代表大会常务委员会从周一开始对刑法修正案(草案)进行每两月一次每次为期六天的立法会议。

Under the current law, people who have sex with prostitutes less than 14 years old face a maximum of 15 years in prison, while those convicted of raping a child may face death sentence.

根据现行法律,与不足14岁的幼女发生性行为最高面临15年的监禁,而被判犯有强奸幼女罪则可能面临死刑。

Legal professionals have been questioning whether to scrap the crime of sex with underage prostitutes since it was written into the Criminal Law in 1997.

1997年刑法修订时，嫖宿幼女罪被写入刑法成为了单独的刑法罪名，自此法律专业人士一直质疑是否应该取消嫖宿幼女罪。

Legislature has carried out multiple investigations on the issue and consulted academics and specialists.

立法机构在这个问题向有关学者和专家进行了多方考证和咨询。

"There is no need to define such a crime. Having sex with minors should be considered rape, no matter who she is and what she does," said Jia Chunmei, a prosecutor from North China’s Hebei province and an NPC deputy, during a legislative session last August.

“嫖宿幼女罪应该废除。只要是与未成年人发生关系就应当定为强奸罪,无论她是谁,做什么,这样才能确保刑法对幼女实行无歧视（差别）的保护。”身为检察官的贾春梅作为河北省全国人大代表,在去年8月的立法会议提出该建议。。

The conflicting provisions have helped offenders escape harsher punishment, as they have argued that the underage girl has consented and was paid, Jia said.

在贾春梅看来，“该法规的争议之处给罪犯以可乘之机，使其逃避了更为严厉的处罚，因为在他们看来，是在受害者同意并且给付金钱的情况下发生的关系。

Gu Yongzhong, an expert with All China Lawyers’ Association, said having sex with underage prostitutes was extremely vile that should be firmly cracked down upon.

中华全国律师协会的法律专家顾永忠表示,与未成年女性发生性关系的行为非常恶劣,应该坚决打击，予以严惩。

Although establishing the crime of sex with underage prostitutes is to increase the protection of minors, in practice, it caused more controversy as lighter penalties were imposed on the crime which brought complaints from families of victims, Gu said.

虽然初衷是为了加大对未成年的保护,但在司法实践中,许多嫖宿幼女案被害人和家长对该罪名都非常不满，抱怨对罪犯处罚过轻，因此引发了极大争议,顾永忠说。

Especially when the criminals who had sex with underage prostitutes were government officials, the public reacted strongly to the lenient sentence instead of tougher punishment when sentenced as rape, Lao Dongyan, associate professor of the Tsinghua University Law School.

清华大学法学院的副教授劳东燕表示，当与未成年女性发生性关系的对象是政府官员时,公众反应尤为强烈,认为应该按强奸罪论处进行严厉处罚而不是予以轻判。

Moreover, the crime imposed stigma on young girls who might engage in forced prostitution, but as victims of the crime, "prostitutes" forever became the label of the girls.

此外,嫖宿幼女罪给受害幼女贴上了“卖淫女”标签，这无疑是对她们的侮辱。虽然是犯罪的受害者,但“妓女”一词却永远成为女孩身上的标签。

Lao proposed separating "rape of minors" into its own law, in order to stress the protection of young girls, adding that lawmakers have responded to the public’s calls while considering if to abolish the crime.

劳东燕提出，为了加强对年轻女孩的保护，应当将“嫖宿幼女”当作强奸罪定罪,并称立法者已对公众的要求进行回应,考虑是否应当废除“嫖宿幼女罪”。

In a high-profile case in 2009, eight people, including four government officials and a teacher, were jailed for terms ranging from seven years to life for child rape in Southwest China’s Guizhou province.

2009年发生在中国西南部的贵州省一个案件备受关注,在本案中包括四名政府官员和一名教师在内的八人因强奸幼儿被处以七年有期徒刑至无期徒刑不等。

Yuan Ronghui, an unemployed woman who abetted and forced 10 schoolgirls into prostitution in Xishui county from October 2007 to June 2008, received a life term handed down by local court.

自2007年10月到2008年6月期间,在一名叫袁蓉晖（化名）的失业妇女威逼利诱下，浠水县10名在校女生开始卖淫。最终袁蓉晖被当地法院判处无期徒刑。

Yuan offered her own apartment as a venue for the rapes, after her two teenage accomplices abducted schoolgirls, three under the age of 14, from a primary school and three junior high schools, the court heard.

法院审理时发现袁蓉晖（化名）伙同两名十几岁的青少年诱拐了六名在校女生后，便将自己的住所当做卖淫场所。六名女生中三名是高中生，另外三名则为小学生，年龄尚不满十四岁。

Seven other people were jailed for terms of seven to 14 years after being convicted of child-rape.

与本案有关的其余7人因被指控强奸儿童而被判处7年至14年有期徒刑。

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来源:China Daily爱语吧作者:Poplar