Harassment of minors: definition and corpus delicti, liability and punishment under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

For some reason, there is an opinion that harassment at work can only occur against women. In fact, both sexes are guilty of such actions, which, by the way, have criminal overtones.

Please note: according to Article 133, harassment with sexual overtones, even if the offender's actions are expressed only in moral terms, is a criminal offense. Sanctions under this article may include imprisonment.

Harassment refers to the actions of one person towards another, the purpose of which is to satisfy their sexual desires in a natural or perverted form.

Actions aimed at harassment may include the following:

physical influence: attempts to hold, apply some kind of tactile contact, force physical contact;
moral: threats, blackmail. For example: a manager threatens to fire a subordinate under an article if she does not enter into an intimate relationship with him one-time or on an ongoing basis.

By the way, threats and blackmail can be expressed not only in relation to the very object of desire of the criminal. He can use such a tool of influence in relation to the relatives and friends of the victim.

It would be unreasonable to believe that if you agree to such demands once, the problem will be solved. On the contrary, it can only get worse.

Example: a manager began to sexually harass his subordinate, threatening her with dismissal under the article. The victim was married and had a young child. She valued her work because of her difficult financial situation, so she agreed to the criminal’s demand, naively believing that everything would stop there. After the sexual contact, the boss began to demand the same again, but motivating this not only by dismissal, but also by showing the recording of the intimate relationship to the husband of his subordinate.

What does seduction of minors mean?

One of the most brutal crimes from a psychological point of view is the rape or seduction of a child. Such actions are an irreparable blow to the child’s psyche, as well as to the psycho-emotional state of his parents. To minimize such illegal acts and bring the perpetrators to justice, there is an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for harassment of minors.

general information

Corruption of persons under the age of majority is manifested in a number of active actions aimed at mental or physical influence on a person, expressed in the following forms:

Blackmail. In this case, the culprit intends to make a number of compromising facts public;
Threat of damage to property belonging to a child or his relatives. In this case, the criminal may threaten to destroy, damage or take away the thing;
Taking advantage of the victim's dependence on his position.

Previously, it was widely believed that only teenage girls could become victims of child abusers. However, due to the modern development of society, any citizen who has not reached the age of majority can become a victim of such an illegal act.

Definition of the concept

Harassment of a sexual nature committed against a child is an unacceptable act directed against the constitutional rights of a person: his sexual integrity and freedom.

The age at which a person is considered a minor

According to Russian legislation, a minor citizen is a child under the age of 16. Consequently, when committing criminal acts against a teenager of this age, the perpetrator will be punished according to the provisions of the relevant article of the Criminal Code.
The same normative legal act determines the procedure for bringing to justice a guilty person who has carried out acts of a sexual nature, harassed a young child aged 12-14 years. In this case, the actions of the offender may be classified as attempted rape, which entails more severe penalties.

Serious penalties are imposed for committing criminal acts of a sexual nature against children under 12 years of age. At this age, children cannot evaluate all the circumstances of what happened and protect their rights, in particular, the right to sexual integrity.

Gradation of minors in crimes against integrity

In general, the Criminal Code provides for the following gradation of the age of children when investigating cases against the sexual integrity of such citizens and bringing the perpetrators to justice:

From 14 to 18 years old. Sexual contact with a minor is allowed, but only with his consent. Such actions are not prosecuted if the child was sane at the time of sexual intercourse and was aware of the consequences of his actions;
From 12 to 14 years. The person is considered a minor, and any sexual contact with him, even with his consent, is prohibited. In this case, the offender will face criminal prosecution;
Up to 12 years old. A person is considered a minor, therefore, at the legislative level, any sexual contact with him is prohibited and severely punished.

Important! The younger the child, the more severe the penalties expected by the person who committed the criminal act against him.

Administrative responsibility

In case of a one-time violation of the law regarding the drugging of teenagers, the law allows the use of administrative rather than criminal sanctions. The decision will be made by the law enforcement officer who discovered the fact of drugging.

age of the child (preteen or teenager);
whether there was the fact of drinking or whether it did not come to specific use; how many times the suspect involved a specific child in drinking alcoholic beverages;
who is the accused child related to;
individual characteristics.

If the insignificance of the fact has been established, then an administrative protocol will be drawn up against the violator under Art. 6.10 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

There is no fact of systematic, negative influence on the teenager.

Fine in amounts from one and a half to three thousand rubles.
If a special subject is brought to justice - parents or guardians, then the amount of the penalty will increase to 4.5 thousand rubles.

Administrative liability for committing such an offense is limited only to the imposition of a monetary fine.

Responsibility for corruption of minors under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

The full list of penalties is contained in Article 134 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
The norms of this legislative act define the nuances of bringing the guilty person to punishment in both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships. There are the following types of crimes committed against the sexual freedom and integrity of children under the age of majority:

Depraved acts with a person under the age of 16, provided that the culprit has reached the age of majority, entails prosecution in the form of compulsory labor for up to 480 hours, restriction or imprisonment for up to 4 years;
Involving a minor child in same-sex relationships entails punishment in the form of forced labor for up to 5 years, imprisonment for up to 6 years;
Similar acts involving a person from 12 to 14 years of age entail liability in the form of imprisonment for 3-10 years;
If the above actions were committed against two or more persons, the person is deprived of liberty for a term of up to 15 years;
Criminal acts committed by a group of persons are punishable by imprisonment for up to 20 years;
Recidivism will result in the offender being punished with imprisonment from 15 years to life imprisonment.

Download for viewing and printing:
Article 134 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Sexual intercourse and other actions of a sexual nature with a person under sixteen years of age”

Liability for perjury

According to the law, for giving false testimony, a participant in legal proceedings is held liable in the form of a fine of 80,000 rubles.

Statute of limitations for bringing a criminal to justice

Article 78 of the Criminal Code establishes that the guilty person can be released from criminal liability after the statute of limitations has expired if more than 15 years have passed since the rape of a minor.
Download for viewing and printing: Article 78 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Exemption from criminal liability due to the expiration of the statute of limitations”

The age at which you can file a police report

Any citizen of the Russian Federation has the right to sexual integrity and freedom.
Therefore, filing a statement with the police is possible immediately after the crime has been committed. At the legislative level, there is no limitation on the list of persons who can submit such a statement to law enforcement agencies. That is, citizens who are capable of this due to their physiological development have the right to such a statement.

Advice! However, in the case of minors, a legal representative must be present with him when submitting documents to the police.

At what age does a person have the right to file a police report for harassment?

Every citizen of our legal society is endowed with fundamental rights from birth, and in case of violation of which he has the right to defend them. Therefore, it is necessary to file a complaint of harassment from the moment the crime was committed.

The current legislation does not limit either the circle of persons who have the right to submit an application or the age limit. In fact, a person acquires the ability to submit an application along with the ability to speak due to physiological development. The nuance of contacting the police before reaching the age of majority is the need to represent the interests of the minor by his legal representative.

Domestic harassment

The worst crime of a sexual nature is harassment in the family, because due to a trusting relationship with the perpetrator, the child may not realize the wrongness of such actions.
The danger of these acts lies in the difficulty of proving the fact of seduction of a minor child and bringing the perpetrator to justice.

As a rule, a child against whom acts of a depraved nature are committed acquires a feeling of guilt and hides the fact of harassment. Therefore, neighbors, relatives or teachers who suspect such events in the child’s family should immediately accompany him to a medical facility to obtain evidence from a doctor. With this certificate you can contact the police.

Workers who are at risk

Any employee who falls into this category can become a victim of sexual harassment from a colleague or management, since the perpetrator is rarely guided by any specific reasons for choosing his victim.

Harassment at work

If attempts to peacefully resolve the conflict do not lead to anything, then the employee has the right to seek help from the manager or the trade union organization (if there is one). Experts also recommend immediately filing a police report.

Harassment in transport

Harassment on public transport is a separate type of crime against sexual integrity.
Especially often such criminal acts occur during rush hours due to crowding. As with harassment at work, you should not hesitate - you must immediately report such actions to the police. Moreover, this must be done immediately, while the person and the elements of his clothing remain in memory.

The difficulty in resolving this issue lies in the lack of evidence and the ability to take testimony from them.

Harassment in prison

Unfortunately, the issue of protecting convicts from harassment in prison is not thoroughly regulated even at the international level; accordingly, the Criminal Code also does not contain separate articles on the procedure for bringing to justice those guilty of harassment of minors.

Teacher Harassment

Harassment by a teacher poses a danger to the mental development of a child’s personality.
As a rule, due to the presence of feelings of guilt and shame, children do not take any action, and realize the whole situation only after several years, when there is no way to bring the person to justice. Video about Article 134 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

How to report harassment?

An article for harassment is provided for in Russian legislation, so reporting these facts is simply necessary. In order to collect a full-fledged evidence base, lawyers advise recording all the information about what is happening, carefully and scrupulously recording what happened and when, who was present and what could be heard, who did and said what. This will help you win your sexual harassment case in the future. It is necessary to record everything in as much detail as possible, and make a copy at the first opportunity so that the evidence base is as complete as possible and stored in a safe place. Any incident related to harassment must be immediately reported to management and the fact of your complaint recorded. After all, if effective measures are not taken by the authorities, then they themselves can be held accountable under this article.

It will be useful to duplicate each message to the trade union organization. Only an official statement about the fact of the crime committed gives the victim hope of achieving justice and real punishment for the criminal for harassment in the Russian Federation. There is an article on this matter in the Criminal Code. If necessary, you can resort to contacting independent lawyers, as well as public organizations that provide assistance and support to women who find themselves in a similar situation. True, in modern Russia such organizations exist only in large cities. As a result, the potential perpetrator may realize his guilt and back down in the early stages, before the harassment escalates into sexual assault.