Lawmaker enquires about sex crime reform

Ng Kuok Cheong has submitted a written enquiry to the Macau government asking about the progress of the legal reform on sex crimes.
In the enquiry, the lawmaker said that he has asked the Secretary of Security to provide data regarding the handling of sex crimes by the local law enforcement agencies.
The reply from the Office of the Secretary suggested that in the Penal Code, there is no such crime as indecent assault. Therefore, when officers received reports where the victim claimed to be indecently assaulted, they would handle each case in a different manner, depending on the details of the criminal action.
For example, if the victim did not face violence, the police would treat the case as “insult”.
Ng Kuok Cheong said that unlike other sex crimes such as sexual coercion, insult is not a public crime. Several members of the Legislative Assemble (AL), even the Prosecutor General, have also publicly indicated that there has to be an amendment on the Penal Code to address this issue.
He asked whether the government is prepared to launch any legal amendments targeting the crime of indecent assault.
According to statistics provided by the Office of the Secretary of Security, there have been 13 cases of insult recorded in the first four months of this year. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether all of them are sex crimes. JPL