SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION OF BOYS IN SOUTH ASIA A ...

The Children Act (1974) does not directly address rape and provides little more protection to
boys than does other legislation. It does not impose penalties on the act of rape, but rather the
”exposure of a child to the risk of rape”. 198 In addition, the provisions are directed at girls,
with the exception of one provision in which employers are culpable for “exposing a child to
the risk of seduction, sodomy, prostitution and other immoral conditions”. As the age of
majority is 16 according to the Children Act, Part 1, Section 2(f), even if this law were
enforced it would not protect boys and girls between 16 and 18 years. Like the SVWCA, the
Children Act contains no clear indication that women are or are not to be considered
perpetrators. Bangladesh law has no reference to incest or sexual abuse conducted by parents
or siblings.
The Penal Code Section 375 prescribes punishment for the rape of girls and women,
excluding boys. Section 377 of the Bangladesh Penal Code 1860 includes a provision to
protect adults against sodomy and oral sex, and could presumably be used to prosecute
perpetrators of rape on boys. 199 However, the rape of boys is not generally recognized as such,
and under this provision boys are more likely to be treated as criminals themselves for
conducting ‘unnatural acts’. In the Penal Code, only males are considered perpetrators of
rape.
Sexual molestation – non-penetrative sexual abuse of children – is specifically addressed in
the SVWCA in Section 10(i), although it excludes boys and girls between 16 and 18. In the
criminalized act, defined as ‘sexual oppression’, the perpetrator “touches the sexual organ or
other organ of a woman and child”. In the case of molestation, only males are considered
perpetrators.
The SVWCA addresses one aspect of sexual harassment (“assaults a woman sexually or
makes any indecent gesture” 200 ), Section 10 (ii) but it applies only to adult women, and the
SVWCA has no mention of verbal harassment. The country’s legislation does not address
other forms of child sexual abuse, including forced oral sex, indecent exposure of the victim
or perpetrator, or forcing a child to witness sexual acts or pornographic material. While
children, including boys, could potentially be protected under the Penal Code provision
against ‘unnatural acts’, this provision can also be used to criminalize the sexually exploited
child.
4.2.3 Sexual exploitation in pornography
The country’s legislation regarding pornography, from the Penal Code of 1860, forbids the
possession or production of pornography and is primarily concerned with protecting the
public from the sale and distribution of materials that may ”tend to deprave and corrupt”. The
legislation does not mention sexual abuse or exploitation of children in pornography. While
the Penal Code can protect children from the effects of exposure to pornography through its
prohibition against selling pornographic materials to children under 20 it does not protect
198 Children’s Act 1974.
199 Bangladesh Penal Code 1860, Section 377.
200 Suppression of Violence against Women and Children (Amendment) Act 2003.
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