A legal view of the sexual exploitation of children

The sexual exploitation or harassment of children is a crime that runs against sound human nature, a crime of extreme cruelty and violence, and it is hard to believe that such acts take place in our conservative society.
Sexual assault on a child is the use of a child to gratify sexual desires by an adult or an adolescent. It includes exposing the child to any sexual activity or behaviour, and sexual harassment often includes acts, words, signs and gestures with sexual content, as well as touching the child or making the child touch the harasser, or teaching them sexual practices.

Since the effects of this crime do not stop at physical assault but extend to leaving complex psychological effects, in addition to negative social effects with grave consequences, it has been necessary for the various bodies of legislation to confront such crimes. On the international side, the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 addressed the protection of the child from sexual exploitation clearly, and then the Stockholm convention of 1996 stressed the need to protect children from sexual commerce.
As for Palestinian legislation, the law includes articles requiring the protection of children from exploitation: the Basic Law and the Palestinian Child Law provide for the child's right to protection from any physical, moral or sexual exploitation,
On accountability, the legislator set out in the penal code, for anyone who commits a "sexual assault",
Article 152
Anyone who:
c) has unlawful carnal knowledge of a child under sixteen years of age, or commits sodomy with them
is deemed to have committed a felony and is punished by imprisonment for fourteen years.

Article 159
Acts of indecency with children
Anyone who commits an act of indecency with a person under sixteen years of age is deemed to have committed a misdemeanour and is punished by imprisonment for three years
Article 168
Indecent suggestions
Anyone who directs an indecent sign or suggestion to a person under sixteen years of age or to a female is deemed to have committed a misdemeanour and is punished by imprisonment for one month

But looking at the texts set out in Palestinian law, we see that they do not clearly address the crime of sexual harassment of children as such, and in addition the penalties are not proportionate to the gravity of the crime. There is also the problem of application, which lies in the deed of reconciliation and pardon given by the family of the victim (the child), or the family's silence and concealment of the crime.
As for proving the crime itself once it has occurred, particularly against a child, it may be difficult to uncover or detect such crimes easily, because the child is afraid to disclose what happened to their family, since the assault is usually accompanied by a threat that makes the child fear for themselves or for a member of their family. The family's hesitation in reporting what happened to their child, out of concern for its reputation, is another reason why such cases are not brought to light. There are therefore many difficulties facing the investigator and the public prosecutor in establishing that the crime occurred, since the child's statements in such a case are taken only as indicative and are not conclusive evidence. Sometimes, too, a report by the family has other aims, such as an attempt to pin charges indiscriminately on those they are in conflict with, as when a child's father accuses the family of the child's mother of sexually assaulting his daughter in order to take revenge on his ex-wife or to deprive her of custody of his children.

This crime therefore still represents a real problem with grave consequences, and proving it is in all cases difficult unless it amounts to rape, where the effects appear and it can be proved by modern scientific means once the suspects are found. We therefore recommend the need to spread awareness among parents to take legal action when their children are assaulted, beginning with reporting it to the nearest police station, which also has a very important part in treating the child psychologically. We also recommend rejecting reduced sentences where there is a reconciliation between the two families, for the very important reason that the sentence issued is a deterrent and a lesson to people, particularly since a reconciliation is not made with the child's consent, given their young age, but with their parents' consent. We also need a legal development that addresses and deters such cases and crimes and keeps pace with the modern age and its developments.

Lawyer of the project "A protective environment for children against sexual exploitation"
Lawyer Rana Nafez Al-Madhoun