Project description
Exploring statutory rape laws in Malaysia
Statutory rape laws protect children from adult sexual coercion. This differs in Malaysia, however, because the laws are also applied to male adolescents who are close in age to their female sexual partners. The EU-funded LAWS-TEENS-SEX project seeks to reassess Malaysia’s statutory rape laws by investigating the psychosocial characteristics of sexual relations among underage and adult-child partners, as well as the perception of criminal justice system personnel like police officers and probation officers of the application of statutory rape laws to adolescents. The project will employ both quantitative and qualitative research methods to determine the difference of psychosocial characteristics between adult-child and close-in-age sexual partners and to explore the worldview of police and probation officers.
Objective
Statutory rape laws are designed to protect children from the manipulation of adults into having sexual intercourse. However, in Malaysia, statutory rape laws are applied even on male adolescents who are close in age with their female partners. This is problematic because applying these laws into male children will criminalize their normative sexual behaviors which has long-lasting damaging effects. In addition, the perception of the criminal justice personnel on sexual behaviors of children also cements the blanket applications of statutory rape laws onto every case involving female children. To reform the use of statutory rape laws in Malaysia, data on the sexual relations between close-in-age partners and adult-child partners are needed. This study has three research objectives. First, I aim to explore the perception of the criminal justice system personnel (i.e. prosecutors, police officers and probation officers) towards the implementation of statutory rape laws on adolescents in Malaysia. Second, I would like to investigate the psychosocial characteristics (sexual and antisocial dimensions) of sexual relations involving two close-in-age children in comparison with sexual relations involving adults and children. Lastly, I aim to explore the psychosocial-cultural motivations behind the pursuance of sexual relationships among Asian adolescents. The design of the proposed study will be a mixed design, employing both quantitative (to achieve research objective 2) and qualitative (to achieve research objective 1 and 3). For the quantitative part of the study, a hypothesis will be tested which is: Close-in-age sexual partners differ in terms of psychosocial characteristics compared to adult-child sexual partners. This will be tested using a binary logistic regression. Then, I will employ a thematic analysis to find out the patterns from the responses. The findings of this project will be disseminated through two journal articles and a conference attendance.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
5000 911 Vila Real
Portugal
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.