The Government will publish an amendment bill on sexual offences in the gazette on Friday and introduce it into the Legislative Council on November 25 for first and second reading, with the target of completing the legislative exercise within the current term of the administration.

The Security Bureau said today that the Sexual Offences Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2026 is aimed at strengthening protection for victims of sexual offences, and modernising the laws on sexual offences in Hong Kong to keep pace with the times.

It noted that many of the sexual offences in Hong Kong are based on similar provisions in the laws of England enacted in 1956 and have certain inadequacies.

For instance, some offences are gender-specific, resulting in a narrow scope; some provisions carry distinctions based on sexual orientation; some offences lack consistency on treatments across genders; the provisions and penalties of some sexual offences are not fully commensurate with the gravity of the relevant acts; and some terminology used in some provisions is outdated.

The Government considers it necessary to review and improve the laws to address the inadequacies of the current provisions and respond to changes in social perceptions related to sexual offences.

The legislative amendment proposal is based on the coverage and recommendations of the Law Reform Commission in its review as well as on the study of developments in relevant legislation in other major common law jurisdictions.

The scope covers non-consensual sexual offences, sexual offences involving children and people with mental impairment, miscellaneous sexual offences, and the strengthening of protection for victims of sexual offences.

In a one-month public consultation exercise this year, a total of 6,228 written submissions were received, with 99.3% showing support and offering positive comments. The bureau considered this to fully reflect that the legislative amendment proposal has gained wide support from the community.

The bureau added that the legislative amendment proposal has also incorporated suggestions received by the Government during the public consultation exercise, including the creation of a new offence to deal with perpetrators' criminal acts of prolonged and repeated sexual abuse against children. Through the refinement of provisions, the cyber-related crime of “cyberflashing” will also be criminalised.