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MORE girls under the age of 14 are having sex illegally and willingly, according to statistics released by police at the Annual Crime Brief yesterday.
There were 83 reported cases of statutory rape last year - a 36 per cent jump from 61 cases in 2008. The youngest victim was 12.
About 93 per cent of the victims were students; the rest were not schooling. Boyfriends, friends and acquaintances - in other words, people with whom the girls already had a relationship - continue to form the majority of culprits, said the police.
Under Singapore law, statutory rape is defined as sex with a girl between the ages of 12 and 14, whether or not she is a consenting party.
The figures have crept up more than two-fold in the past four years. In 2006, there were 38 cases of statutory rape, and in 2007, there were 57 cases.
It is a worrying trend that will continue, said Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Ng Boon Gay, who urged "parents, schools, voluntary welfare organisations and whoever comes into contact with young people" to pay attention to the problem.
SAC Ng attributed the trend to changing moral values and lifestyles, as well as wider exposure to acquaintances "with ill intentions" via the Internet.
He said that because of the wider reach online, "people make lots of friends...the more the merrier, and that's where the potential danger lies".
Mr Nicholas Gabriel Lim, executive director of psychological- services provider iGROW, said young girls who choose to have sex come from both rich and poor backgrounds.
"As long as they don't have role models, a positive environment to grow within, values, guidance...they can turn wayward," he said.
The psychologist said he has seen cases where teenage girls first had sex when they were only nine or 10. He explained that, with minors, "it's like a friend thing", where two people in a close relationship trust each other and are comfortable enough to allow the intimacy to develop to a sexual stage.
Nominated Member of Parliament and sociologist Paulin Tay Straughan said that the "positive portrayal" of pre-marital sex in popular culture, on top of parental neglect, played a huge role in the upward trend.
She said: "How many parents actually tell their teenage daughters that, 'when you're under 14, you're not allowed to have sex, it's against the law?' We prefer to assume that our children will not engage in sex before marriage."
Offenders who have had sex with a minor under age 14 can be jailed up to 20 years and fined, or caned.
Teenage boy offenders can be fined, sent for reformative training, given probation or jailed.
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