Crimes against the sexual inviolability of minors in the Republic of Kazakhstan and their latency

The article is devoted to the problems of sexual offences against minors and their latency in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Sexual and sexual crimes against minors are deliberate actions that infringe on the sexual inviolability, normal moral and physical development of minors, persons who have not reached the age of majority and are protected by the laws of the state. Criminal sexual encroachments on minors, including their own children, represent the highest degree of public danger, which is manifested not only in the danger of such actions at the time of their commission, but also in their consequences. The paper examines the complexities of detection and recording of this category of crime. The authors conduct an analysis of statistical indicators of crimes against sexual inviolability of minors for the period from 2013 to 2020 according to the official data provided by the Committee of Legal Statistics and special records of the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Thus, according to CPSSU, the increase in the number of rapes committed against minors in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2020 compared to the previous year was 47.4%, the increase in violent acts of sexual nature against minors -12.7%, corrupting minors - 1.8%. However, the crime rate under Article 122 of the Criminal Code (sexual intercourse or other acts of a sexual nature with a person under 16 years of age) decreased by 14.8%. These data make us doubt and, at the same time, link and explain this increase in latent crime. The authors study other official data relating to these types of socially dangerous acts in order to obtain information about their real scale. The authors also seek to identify, through processing and analysis of the results of sociological research, the reasons why victims of these offences are afraid to make contact with the law enforcement agencies. To study the problems of child sexual abuse and to identify the causes and extent of its latency, in February 2021 a sociological survey was conducted in the form of an anonymous questionnaire along with school psychologists among teenagers aged 14 to 18 years old and Kazakh citizens aged 20 years and older via SMS. The total number of students was 50, and, the total number of citizens over the age of 20 was 50. In conclusion, the authors conclude on the basis of their research that the level of latency of crimes against sexual integrity of minors in the Republic of Kazakhstan is very high.

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