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WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 1986
+A MORE ENLIGHTENED VIEW OF HUMAN SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS PROPERLY EXPRESSED BY PARENTS AND TEACHERS MIGHT ALSO HELP TO REDUCE THE INCIDENCE OF THESE CRIMES AND THIS IS SOMETHING THE GOVERNMENT WILL CONTINUE TO WORK TOWARDS, HE SAID.
+ONE OPTION WHICH IS NOT AVAILABLE TO US IS TO INCREASE THE PENALTIES, + HE ADDED.
THE MAXIMUM PENALTY FOR RAPE WAS LIFE IMPRISONMENT AND THAT FOR INDECENT ASSAULT WAS ALREADY FIVE YEARS' IMPRISONMENT, HE SAID.
+ IT WOULD NOT BE APPROPRIATE TO MAKE EITHER OF THESE PENALTIES MORE SEVERE.+
MR MATHEWS SAID THE NUMBER OF RAPE CASES OF UNDER 16 YEARS OLD IN 1984 WAS 22, IN 1985 IT WAS 25 AND FROM JANUARY TO JUNE THIS YEAR WAS 20, WHILE THAT OF INDECENT ASSAULT WAS 277, 307 AND 156 IN THE CORRESPONDING PERIODS.
HE SAID THAT STATISTICS SHOWED THAT THIS TYPE OF CRIME WAS RUNNING AT A STABLE LEVEL.
ONE WORRYING ASPECT, HE SAID, WAS THAT THE NUMBER OF RAPES OF UNDER 16-YEAR-OLDS IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, AT 3.1 PER 100 000, WAS CONSIDERABLY HIGHER THAN IT WAS IN THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR, WHICH WAS 1.7 PER 100 000.
THE FIGURE FOR THE CURRENT YEAR WAS NEARLY AS HIGH AS FOR EACH OF THE PREVIOUS THREE FULL YEARS, HE SAID.
+WE HAVE NO REASON TO SUPPOSE THIS INDICATES THE START OF A SIGNIFICANT TREND BUT WE WILL BE WATCHING THE SITUATION CLOSELY.+
MR MATHEWS SAID THAT NOT ONLY WAS THE CRIME OF RAPE BEING CONTAINED IN HONG KONG BUT AS FAR AS COULD BE ASCERTAINED FROM INTER-CITY AND INTER-COUNTRY COMPARISONS, IT WAS BEING CONTAINED AT A RELATIVELY LOW LEVEL.
THE DETECTION RATE ALSO COMPARED NOT UNFAVOURABLY WITH THAT IN OTHER CITIES, HE SAID.
IN 1984, THE DETECTION RATES IN CASES OF FORCIBLE RAPE WAS 52.9 PER CENT IN HONG KONG, 81.1 PER CENT IN TOKYO, 54.2 IN LONDON AND 14.0 IN KUALA LUMPUR.
MR MATHEWS ALSO POINTED OUT THAT FOR TECHNICAL REASONS, HONG KONG'S STATISTICS TENDED TO UNDERSTATE THE DETECTION RATES.
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