Reform commission calls for revisions to rape law
Hong Kong should revise its rape law to follow the British model – in which rape is not limited to offences involving a man and a woman – the Law Reform Commission recommended on Monday.
The definition of rape should be broadened to include anal and oral penetration, it says in a consultation paper that reviews the law on rape and other sexual offences.
”We agree that the law on sexual offences should avoid distinctions based on sexual orientation, and any reform of law on homosexual offences should be guided by that principle,” it says.
The new law should provide “adherence to human rights laws, and practices guaranteed under the Basic Law”, it said.
The consultation paper also suggests changing the law on consent, noting that a defendant can now be acquitted by claiming he thought the plaintiff had consented to sexual contact, however unreasonable that might be.
When considering the matter of consent in future, courts should adopt a mixed test measuring the objective circumstances, rather than focusing on a defendant’s subjective view, it said.
The paper also called for photographs taken up women’s skirts to be considered a form of sexual assault, a category that should replace the current label of indecent assault.
