Teen births fall to 20-year low, but underage sex more common: report
The number of babies born to teenage girls in Singapore may have dropped to a 20-year low, but at the same time, underage sex cases are on the rise, according to reports in The Straits Times on Monday.
Provisional figures from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), published on a quarterly basis, show that last year, a total of 404 babies were born to girls aged 19 or below, as compared to 487 in 2013. The Straits Times reported that the number of teenage births hit a high of 953 in 2000, but later fell to 641 in 2010.
However, this increase is not due to abortions. The number of abortions by teenage girls fell from a high of 1,483 in 2003 to 578 in 2013, according to the broadsheet, although it did not show figures from last year.
Meanwhile, the paper also said the number of cases of sex with a minor — more specifically, with girls aged below 16 — has been on the rise, according to figures from Singapore's State Courts. Sex with a person under the legal age of 16 is a crime, whether or not he or she gives consent.
As compared to 2011 and 2012, which saw 36 and 63 cases respectively, last year reportedly saw 76 cases involving that offence, although that was a drop from 89 in 2013.
Additionally, four cases of youths charged with having sex with fellow minors were raised last year at the Youth Court, which deals with children under the age of 16. Another five cases of assault with the intent of molest were also brought up, the Straits Times added.
