Secretary for Security Chris Tang on Friday said the government aims to table legislative amendments to improve Hong Kong's sexual offence laws by the end of this year.

The proposed changes include specifying 11 circumstances under which a victim will be deemed not to have consented to a sexual act, such as when the victim is mistaken about the nature or purpose of the act.

The security chief noted that the administration’s target is to complete the legislative process within the current term of office.

More than 6,000 submissions, he added, were received during a one-month public consultation that concluded on Wednesday.

"Over 90 percent of the submissions supported our proposed amendments and offered constructive feedback. These results clearly demonstrate that our proposed amendments enjoy the support of the majority of the public and all sectors of society," Tang said.

"The feedback covered various aspects of the proposal, including non-consensual sexual offences involving children and persons with mental disabilities, as well as measures to strengthen protection for victims."

On strengthening child protection, Tang said the Hong Kong Bar Association, in its submission, stated that it broadly agrees with creating a new offence of persistent sexual abuse of a child.

As for whether deepfake images should be classified as sexual offences, Tang stressed that one proposal is to expand sexual offence legislation to cover the transmission of sexual images to children.

He added that the Crimes Ordinance already covers offences related to deepfake images, and that the secretary for justice is also leading a committee to conduct a broader review of offences related to artificial intelligence.


Edited by Aaron Tam