未成年网络性侵害的刑法规制现状和完善途径

The Current State of Criminal Law and Regulations on Cyber Sexual Abuse of Minors and Ways to Improve Them

《中华人民共和国刑法》第237条第2款第4项明确,猥亵手段恶劣或者有其他恶劣情节的行为构成猥亵儿童罪。现如今,互联网已深度融入社会生活中,未成年人低龄触网率大幅上升。由于互联网隐蔽性为不法分子提供犯罪便利,使得未成年人遭受网络性侵害案件大幅提升。当前,我国的法律法规将网络环境中的性侵犯行为按传统法规予以处罚,归入侵犯儿童罪的范畴作为一种补充,然而,这并不能合理规避网络性侵害风险。考虑到互联网已是现代社会不可分割的组成部分,仅仅借助传统的法律条文处理已不足以适应网络给未成年人保护带来的新挑战。法律的解释与适用必须与时俱进,满足对虚拟空间特有危险性的回应需求。因此,在未成年人保护领域,应当考虑设立专门的网络猥亵儿童罪条款,以将网络性犯罪明确分离出来,并对条款中涉及的行为、手段、后果等要素进行明确界定。这种刑法规定的优化旨在强化法律对网络环境下未成年人安全的保护,提高法律的预防和威慑效果,并更有效地打击和预防针对未成年人的网络性侵犯罪行为。

Article 237(2)(4)of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China makes it clear that the of-fence of indecent assault on a child is committed when the indecent assault is committed by means that are aggravated or when there are other aggravating circumstances.Nowadays,the Internet has been deeply integrated into social life,and the rate of minors touching the Internet at an early age has risen sharply.Due to the hidden nature of the Internet to provide criminals with criminal con-venience,so that minors suffered from network sexual abuse cases increased significantly.Cur-rently,China’s laws and regulations punish sexual assault in the network environment in accord-ance with traditional regulations,and categorise it into the category of crimes against children as a kind of supplement,however,this does not reasonably circumvent the risk of cyber sexual abuse.Considering that the Internet has become an integral part of modern society,the traditional legal provisions alone are no longer sufficient to meet the new challenges posed by the Internet to the protection of minors.The interpretation and application of the law must keep pace with the times and meet the need to respond to the dangers specific to virtual space.Therefore,in the area of the protection of minors,consideration should be given to the establishment of a specific article on the offence of child molestation on the Internet,in order to clearly separate out cybersex offences and clearly define the elements of behaviour,means and consequences involved in the article.The op-timisation of such criminal law provisions is intended to strengthen the law’s protection of the safety of minors in the cyberenvironment,to improve the law’s preventive and deterrent effects,and to combat and prevent cybersex offences against minors more effectively.