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Government Laws

Legislation against child prostitution

The basic provisions awarding children protection from sexual abuse is found in the Penal Code of Myanmar. Anyone having sexual intercourse with a girl under fourteen years of age with or without her consent commits the offence of rape. Additional protection against commercial exploitation is provided in the Child Law, which came into effect in 1993. In the law a child is defined as a person yet to reach the age of sixteen years. Under the law it is an offence to knowingly allow a girl younger than sixteen years of age under one's guardianship to engage in prostitution. There is no obvious corresponding offence for boys. Penalties range from a fine to two years imprisonment. Under the Suppression of Prostitution Act (1949), soliciting or seducing in public is illegal. It is also illegal to force or entice a woman into prostitution or to own a brothel.