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It will soon be an offence to take photos of a person's genital regions without their consent, under proposed amendments to Singapore's criminal law.

This means that the offences of voyeurism will apply to images of the genital region of someone wearing a thong, for example, and not only nude photos taken without consent.

The upcoming change is part of the Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill which underwent its first reading in Parliament on August 2.

Other changes include an increase in penalties for three sexual offences, clarifying and expanding the scope for some defences and offences, and an update in the language of certain terms in the penal code.

Increase in penalties for sexual offences

Outrage of modesty

Under the bill, the maximum jail term for outrage of modesty will be increased from two to three years.

This is to enhance deterrence and allow the courts to deal with egregious cases more severely.

During the five-year period from 2016 to 2020, an average of 1,190 cases of outrage of modesty were reported each year, marking a 24 per cent increase from the previous five years, from 2011 to 2015.

Sexual activity in the presence of a minor or showing a sexual image to a minor

The bill will also increase the maximum jail term from one to two years for the following two offences:

• Engaging sexual activity in the presence of a minor, aged 14-16, or showing them a sexual image, under Section 376ED(3)(b) and,
• Engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a minor, aged 16-18 years, or showing them a sexual image, with the offender in an exploitative relationship with the minor, under Section 376EE(3).

This is to ensure parity with similar offences pertaining to sexual communication with a minor of the same age ranges.

Clarifying and expanding the scope of other offences

Wasting the police's time by giving false information to be made an offence

Another proposed change is the criminalisation of giving false information to a public servant, resulting in inefficient use of their time.

Currently, Section 182 of the penal code covers giving false information to a public servant, with the intent of causing the police, for example, to improperly exercise their powers to hurt another party.

However, it does not cover instances where false information is given, resulting in more time being spent to trace a suspect.

The bill will therefore amend Section 182 and Section 186, regarding obstruction of a public servant, to cover such instances.

In addition, the maximum jail term will be raised from three months to six to align the penalty with a similar offence under Section 177(1) of the Penal Code (giving false information to a public servant, while legally bound to give information).

Expanding the offences of lying about using protection and STD status during sex

At the moment, Section 376H of the Penal Code makes it an offence to obtain sexual consent by lying about using protective measures, such as the act of covertly removing one's condom when the other party had consented only to protected sex (also known as stealthing).

It is also an offence to lie about one's status regarding a sexually transmitted disease (STD) when engaging in sex.

As such, the bill will expand the scope of the both offences to cover instances where a person consents to have sex with a third party, as a result of deception or false representation.

The bill also clarifies that it may be an offence if the deception pertains to the risk of the victim contracting a STD, such as an offender lying to the victim that the offender’s STD is not transmissible via sexual activity.

Clarifying the term "buttocks" in the context of voyeurism, child abuse material, and abusive material

At present, the terms "buttocks" or "anal region" are used in the context of offences involving voyeurism, child abuse material, and abusive material.

The bill will therefore seek to avoid ambiguities in interpretation, by clarifying that the term "buttocks" includes the "anal region".

The clarification is also for the purpose of catching images of minors’ genitals, buttocks or breasts, whether "exposed or covered".

This ensures that the offences will cover photographs of scantily clad minors; or close-up photos of minors’ genitals, buttocks, or breasts even if they are covered by clothing, in circumstances which reasonable persons would regard as sexually offensive.

The bill also clarifies that the depiction of the minors’ genitals, buttocks or breasts must be sexual in nature, so as to avoid ambiguity over whether these offences apply to material depicting minors in a non-sexual manner (such as diaper advertisements).

Offence of necrophilia to be made gender-neutral

The offence regarding sexual penetration of a corpse will also be made gender-neutral.

This law currently only prohibits a man from penetrating a corpse’s vagina, anus or mouth with his penis, and any person from causing a man to penetrate a corpse in such manner without the man’s consent.

The amendment will therefore make the offence gender-neutral and criminalise other forms of sexually penetrating a corpse with body parts other than a penis.

Defence of mistaken consent for sexual assault involving penetration to be made gender-neutral

Under Section 376(4)(b), sexual penetration of a minor under 14, without consent, is an aggravated offence, with a jail term of between eight to 20 years and at least 12 strokes of the cane.

Section 376(6) provides a defence of mistaken consent for such an offence. However, it presently only applies to men.

The bill will thus make the defence gender-neutral, given that the section in Section 376(4)(b) can be committed by both male and female perpetrators.

However, even if the defence applies, the person will still be guilty, albeit for a different offence without mandatory minimum penalties, a jail term of up to 20 years, and a possible fine or caning.

Certain terms to be modernised

Some terms in the Penal Code will also be modernised.

Under the bill, certain archaic terms, such as "wantonly", "malignantly" and "maliciously", will be replaced with terms which are more easily understood, and already defined in the Penal Code, such as "rashly", "intentionally" and "with intent to cause injury."

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