• Claims “Nobody asked for this kind of legal amendment”
• Recommends increasing age of consent to 18

The State Ministry of Women and Child Affairs moved to distance itself from the controversial decision to to amend the Chapter 19 of the Penal Code to reduce the age of a female child to have consensual sexual relations from age 16 to 14, calming that the ministry was blindsided by the move.

The State Minister of Women and Child Affairs Geetha Kumarasinghe yesterday (24) said that it is problematic in whose interest such an amendment was going to be brought.

The Bill gazetted on 9 February by the Government in order to amend Chapter 19 of the Penal Code regarding the girls' consent age for sex sparked great controversy in the past few days, drawing criticism from women’s and child rights groups and from the opposition.  It was reported that the Minister of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms, President's Counsel (PC), Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe had later said that the relevant Bill would be withdrawn.

Commenting on the proposed legal amendment to The Daily Morning, Minister Kumarasinghe said that the State Ministry of Women and Child Affairs was never consulted about it. She said that she asked the State Ministry Secretary whether any notification was made regarding the proposed legal amendment, and that the latter informed that no such notification was made.

"This amendment can be something that started some time ago, but the relevant institutions should have informed us. Had they done so, we would not have allowed this. I do not think even President Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Cabinet Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, knew about this amendment."

Kumarasinghe also said that it is questionable as to in whose interests such an amendment was going to be implemented at a time when the people are asking for food and other basic needs, and added that the Government would also be disliked by the people due to such moves. "Nobody asked for this kind of legal amendment. Whose interests are these being introduced? Due to having sex at early ages, school-aged girls become mothers, children are deprived of father's care, and in some cases illegal abortions take place."

Kumarasinghe opined that lowering the girls' sexual consent age from 16 to 14 years may lead to negative social issues, and create a dangerous situation for children. The State Minister said that she would recommend increasing it to 18 years instead.

As per the existing provisions of the Penal Code, even if a girl under 16 years of age has sexual relations at their consent, it is considered rape. However, the proposed amendment to the Penal Code by the Justice Ministry sought to lower the age of sexual consent to 14 years. Following strong resistance, including from the Parliamentary Women Parliamentarians' Caucus, it is reported that the Minister of Justice had informed Attorney General, Sanjay Rajaratnam PC that the relevant Bill would not be proceeded with.

Attempts to contact the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health regarding the proposed amendments, proved futile.