Sexual crimes among youth up 30%; early porn exposure cited as a factor

Police, MHA and MOE working to improve training for youth counsellors: Sun Xueling

- Nadine Chua

More youth aged 19 and below committed sexual crimes in 2023, with more than 470 of them getting arrested for such offences, about a 30 per cent rise from 2022.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling, who said this at the police's Sexual Crime Awareness Seminar at the Police Cantonment Complex on April 15, cited two reasons for this increase.

One was that youth were being exposed early to sexually explicit materials or adult sexual activity, and the other was their access to inappropriate or inaccurate information about sexual behaviours and relationships.

The police said among those young people arrested, sexual penetration of minors was the most common offence. In most cases, victims knew the culprits.

Ms Shamala Gopalakrishnan, lead psychologist and assistant director of the Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA) Home Team Psychology Division, highlighted the rise of the internet and mobile phones, and youth being digital natives.

"The internet has become an accessible 'sex educator' through spreading misinformation on sex and relationships through sexually explicit materials, including pornography. That's our concern." She added that without early detection of sexually inappropriate behaviours displayed by youth, they can become preoccupied with online sexually explicit materials.

"They adopt unrealistic, harmful perceptions towards women and girls, and this can contribute to sexual offending." To address this, Ms Shamala said the division is working with the Ministry of Education (MOE) to develop programmes to reduce the likelihood of inappropriate behaviours and sex offences.

The police said the seminar's aim was to raise awareness of the youth sexual offending situation, and the criminal justice procedures for both offenders and victims.