[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/is-increasing-jail-term-a-sufficient-deterrent-for-sexual-offences-against-minors\/#NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/is-increasing-jail-term-a-sufficient-deterrent-for-sexual-offences-against-minors\/","headline":"Is increasing jail term a sufficient deterrent for sexual offences against minors?","name":"Is increasing jail term a sufficient deterrent for sexual offences against minors?","description":"September 13, 2021. The day marks an amendment to the law to mete out harsher punishment for those who commit sexual offences against minors. Such offences include engaging in sex in the presence of minors aged between 14 and 16 or causing them to view a sexual image; or for similar activities against minors\u00a0themselves, where […]","datePublished":"2021-10-07","dateModified":"2022-04-16","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/lee_chong-ming\/#Person","name":"Lee Chong Ming","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/lee_chong-ming\/","identifier":327,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8e373c266b56aff8d5e84fb0afb7bef2cff246386c903c49397595b5b46f384?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8e373c266b56aff8d5e84fb0afb7bef2cff246386c903c49397595b5b46f384?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TheHomeGround Asia","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","width":640,"height":640}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1633593634222_Is_the_increase_in_jail_term_a_sufficient_deterrent_for_sexual_offences_against_minors_Source_Canva_In-text.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1633593634222_Is_the_increase_in_jail_term_a_sufficient_deterrent_for_sexual_offences_against_minors_Source_Canva_In-text.jpg","height":626,"width":1280},"url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/is-increasing-jail-term-a-sufficient-deterrent-for-sexual-offences-against-minors\/","about":["Community","Local","Sex & Gender","Singapore"],"wordCount":2263,"articleBody":"September 13, 2021.The day marks an amendment to the law to mete out harsher punishment for those who commit sexual offences against minors.Such offences include engaging in sex in the presence of minors aged between 14 and 16 or causing them to view a sexual image; or for similar activities against minors\u00a0themselves, where the offender is in an exploitative relationship with the minor.The maximum jail term for these is raised from one to two years. But is it enough?Harsher penalty for sexual offences against minors (Photo source: UNSW Sydney)And while President Halimah Yacob agreed that that change is \u201cmost timely and badly needed\u201d, she wrote in her Facebook post that while the harsher penalties for these sexual offences are welcome, \u201cwe can do more to protect our children from sexual predators\u201d.Member of Parliament (MP) for Bukit Batok Murali Pillai also felt that more can be done and even wanted caning, based on medical fitness and not age, to be handed out for these offences and he put his point across in his speech in Parliament on 13 September.Addressing the House, he said, \u201cI don\u2019t see why Parliament should presume in favour of a repeat sex offender that is not fit to be caned when he is clearly fit to commit those heinous offences.\u201d\u00a0\u201cI also think it\u2019s not a coincidence that such middle-aged offenders tend to target younger victims; we need to ensure such like-minded offenders will be strongly deterred from harming them,\u201d he added.Despite Mr Murali\u2019s call for harsher physical punishment for repeat sex offenders, the change in the law merely increased\u00a0jail time from one to two years. So, can this be enough of a deterrent?It is a definite “no” – from the perspective of victimsPastor Caleb fears that the Singapore legal system and the public \u201cfind longer prison terms too harsh and extreme, and, on the surface, it would seem to be that way\u201d.\u201cWhat I fear is that the temptation to commit such acts is a very strong compulsion that even an increase of one to two years is not enough to deter them,\u201d he says, adding that he advocates the death penalty for those who sexually abuse minors.Pastor Caleb is himself a sexual abuse victim\u00a0and does not want to give his real name because of the stigma.\u00a0He was only 13 when he was sexually abused by a male swimming coach, a friend of his father. At that time, he was being trained by an elderly swimming coach engaged by his father. But his father\u2018s friend insisted on \u201chelping\u201d Caleb with his swimming techniques.“He would wait for me at the opposite side of the pool, knowing that my coach would send us swimming over there and eventually return. On the pretext of checking my swimming strokes, he would stabilise my body while I was practicing my strokes but that quickly progressed to ‘holding’ me in the genital area instead,\u201d Pastor Caleb recalls.It didn\u2019t just happen once. It became a regular pattern and he would do this for a few minutes at a time and Pastor Caleb could still picture his unforgettable, menacing smile that continued to intimidate him today.Pastor Caleb says he did not report the incident because his abuser knew his father and that made it difficult for him to say anything. There was that risk that nobody would believe him. Looking back, he says it was also easy at that young age to wrongly assume that he was also responsible because he had an automatic\u00a0physiological response, \u201cas any young male would if someone was to touch him sexually in that manner\u201d.\u201cI went through a few years of depression and had suicidal thoughts when I was 15. But I did not mention the details of the abuse to anyone aside from making vague references then. It was only recently that I told my therapist,\u201d he says.It was only during\u00a0his training as a pastor that Caleb found that many of these perpetrators had committed multiple crimes or had a long string of victims before they were caught.\u201cSexual groomers in particular are very opportunistic, sly and most of all, patient people,\u201dhe says.On the effectiveness of corrective training and rehabilitation regimen, Caleb says he is \u201cat a loss as to what kind of corrective training and rehabilitation society can offer to change paedophiles\u201d.\u201cAs an optimist, I would like to believe that people could be radically changed, but I have to be very realistic that such crimes are not merely the spur of a moment\u2019s temptation. They are\u00a0more likely to be something that took many years to develop \u2014 in technique, severity and sophistication,\u201d he says.\u00a0Director and Principal Counselling Psychologist of Seeding Minds Eugene Chong says\u00a0the longer jail terms might not provide sufficient deterrence.\u201cThese new laws send out a signal for those sex offenders to consider before committing the crime. However, it might not work for paedophiles, serial sexual offenders, and those with psychopathic traits as they are not affected by the degree of punishment because their urges are much stronger than the fear of punishment,\u201d he says.Mr Chong believes that the new changes in the law \u201cwill not be a proactive measure to sieve out these groups of people and provide early intervention for their deviant mindset and behaviours\u201d. He feels that advocating psychiatric and psychological treatments will be more effective in the long term, adding that it does not mean that punishment is not necessary. \u201cThey are still essential to keep society protected,\u201d he says.Understanding the impact of child sexual abusePsychological trauma can scar a child for life (Photo source: AWARE)To gauge the kind of penalty that is sufficient to deter and to serve justice for the victims, we must first understand the impact of child sexual abuse on victims, Mr Chong says.\u201cSimply put,\u00a0most of the victims are not prepared to cope with early exposure to sexual stimulation. The effects range from behavioural, cognitive, and emotional, especially in the areas of guilt, low self-esteem, a sense of worthlessness, a lack of trust in adults, and a distorted view of sex. Some even go into severe depression with suicidal ideation or promiscuous lifestyles,\u201d he says.Caleb attests to this as it took him years to get over his childhood trauma, saying, \u201cI cannot honestly say that I feel nothing about it anymore.\u201dMr Chong says child sexual abuse often occurs within the victim\u2019s or relatives\u2019 homes and in most cases, the abuser forms relationships with potential victims and their families prior to the abuse.\u201cThis is termed sexual grooming. It is a process by which an offender gradually draws a victim into a sexual relationship and maintains that relationship in secrecy,\u201d he says.\u00a0\u201cThe offender tends to fill roles that were needed within the victim\u2019s family, such as after-school care and academic support, turning the offender into someone who is trusted and valued,\u201d he adds.\u00a0Earlier this year (2021),\u00a0a bus driver was sentenced to nine years\u00a0for molesting his stepdaughter for more than 20 years; while another, a freelance cameraman, was convicted in November 2020 for sexually abusing his girlfriend\u2019s\u00a0two underage daughters.\u00a0In a commentary published on CNA in 2018, Ms Laika Jumabhoy, an assistant manager at the Sexual Assault Care Centre (SACC) of AWARE (Association of Women for Action and Research) wrote that \u201cthe reality of child sexual abuse ought to be acknowledged beyond its misconceptions\u201d.\u201cMany think of perpetrators as strange leering men in playgrounds or outside schools. But in almost 90 per cent of the cases SACC received on sexual abuse suffered during childhood or adolescence, and the perpetrator was a family member, or known to the survivor,\u201d she said.\u00a0Mr Chong says the issue here is that families tend to deny or minimise the abuse and may even accuse the victim of lying, exaggerating, or having false memories.\u00a0\u201cThis basically shuts them down and negates the reality experienced by the victim. More often than not, family members will blame and shame the victim, by asking questions like \u2018why did you let it happen?\u2019\u201d he adds.\u00a0And when a child speaks out against a perpetrator, the accusations against the victim only make it easier for the abuse to continue.\u00a0Will a sex offender registry help?\u00a0To better protect the children, communities in the United States want to know when convicted sex offenders are placed in their midst and for that reason alone, sex offender registries have been set up at both the federal and state levels. These public registries disclose information about persons convicted of sexual offences.\u00a0So why have such registries not been set up in Singapore?While there are no such registries officially set up here, the reasoning for this was given by Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam in a written reply to a parliamentary question on background checks of persons before engaging them as freelance tutors or instructors for children.\u00a0Mr Shanmugam said that having a public registry of a person\u2019s criminal antecedents \u201chas its own consequences\u201d.He said\u00a0a research study had found that offenders on the registry were more likely to reoffend due to the exclusion from their neighbourhood, job loss, and anxiety. The registered sex offenders and their family members also experienced stigmatisation, harassment, and abuse.\u201cWe will need to consider the consequences and see if we should provide for further pathways for checking a person\u2019s criminal antecedents, beyond the current approach,\u201d he added.Currently, the Registration of Criminal Act allows the police to maintain a non-public record of persons convicted of serious offences, including sexual offences. Both the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) work closely with the police to screen individuals who are applying for jobs involving children, such as childcare minders in licensed childcare centres, or teachers in kindergartens, and schools.\u00a0While there may not be an official registry set up, there have been ad hoc ones popping up on social media such as Facebook. One such group is the Singapore Registry for sexual offenders @SGHallofShame. It says it exists \u201cfor one single purpose \u2026 simply to expose all who harm our women and children\u201d and posts media articles related to Singapore cases of sexual offences on the page.In our interview with Caleb, he also raised the question of the appropriate use of such registries. He says while he believes many would want that information to be publicly accessible, it could, in turn, result in unfair discrimination against an ex-offender who had already paid for their crimes.\u00a0\u201cI have seen maps of ex-sexual offenders for Californian neighbourhoods. The problem with that is what if someone decides to unfairly and illegally bar the person [from the community], or worse,\u00a0hunt ex-paedophiles for revenge?\u201dWhat more can we do to stop child sexual abuse?While the amendment to the law to hand out harsher punishment for certain sexual offences against minors is a move forward to deter child sexual abuse, many still feel more needs to be done to protect minors \u2014 such as even harsher punishments to send\u00a0stronger signals to sex offenders, but if the law intervenes only when the rapes are reported \u2013 that might be too late for the victims.In an opinion piece written for CNA, Ms Shailey Hingorani, Head of Research and Advocacy at AWARE, said that harsher penalties may have the unintended consequences of deterring a child victim from disclosing abuse, since the perpetrator is often a family member or someone close to the family.Promoting sex education at a young age and teaching children what is appropriate touching and what is inappropriate touching (Photo source: TODAY)She said crucial to the fight against child sexual abuse are early intervention and prevention. While the law focuses on abusers, other agencies can centre their attention\u00a0on first educating the children as early as possible before increasing victim support. Disclosure and recovery might prevent a child from being sexually abused for years. Since 2019, AWARE has been running sex education workshops targeted at parents, during which they teach parents how to gently broach sensitive topics with their kids.\u00a0Similarly, Mr Chong champions the importance of providing sex education to the child, such as teaching them how to differentiate between \u201cappropriate touching\u201d\u00a0and \u201cinappropriate touching\u201d.\u00a0\u201cYou will need to identify the signs of potential sexual abuse and be open to listening carefully to what they say to you. Investigate the manner thoroughly before making any quick conclusion because the sexual abuser [is someone you trust]. Once it is confirmed that an abuse has taken place, immediately report to the Ministry of Social & Family (MSF) Child Protective Service,\u201d he advises.Caleb also urges parents to be more vigilant and to keep channels open so that children are not embarrassed to report a potential sexual abuse.He adds that a paedophile should not be allowed near children or students, so certain employers and organisations like religious institutions and children\u2019s charities should be allowed to verify potential hires against a registry.\u00a0Both Mr Chong and Caleb agree that measures to reduce crime cannot be sought solely through the mechanisms of the criminal justice system. Besides the focus is on punishment, the approach\u00a0to reducing crime must concern itself first with preventing the crime and reducing the harm it causes. Education, prevention, and improved detection need to be emphasized in curbing child sexual abuse.\u00a0Join the conversations on TheHomeGround Asia’s Facebook and Instagram, and get the latest updates via Telegram.\u00a0"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Destinations","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Singapore","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/\/singapore\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Is increasing jail term a sufficient deterrent for sexual offences against minors?","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/is-increasing-jail-term-a-sufficient-deterrent-for-sexual-offences-against-minors\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]