Sexual crimes in the criminal law of Russia

In Russian criminal law literature there is no single definition of sex crimes. T. V. Dolgolenko identifies the following features, allowing to distinguish sexual crimes among other types of socially dangerous acts ^[2] :

• sexual orientation;
• violation of the normal way of sexual relations prevailing in society;
• intentional character.

A. N. Ignatov names among the signs of sexual crimes, in addition to disturbing the normal way of having sex, their focus on satisfying the sexual desire of the guilty person or other persons ^[3] . A. E. Yakubov supplements these signs with an indication of deliberate actions directed against the moral and physical development of persons under 16 years of age ^[4] .

As for the concept of a normal way of sexual relations, it also refers to the number of ambiguous. Sexual relations in society are mainly governed by moral standards, not law. To a certain extent, family law only acts as the legal regulator of relations between the sexes, both marital and illegitimate. Criminal law also does not act as a positive regulator of sexual relations. It also does not give the concept of sexual norms, but it contains signs of such acts that grossly violate the moral foundations of sexual relations, are socially dangerous encroachments on the rights of individuals in the sexual sphere ^[5] .

Ya. M. Yakovlev names the following components of the normal way of sexual relations, which are reflected in the criminal law ^[6] :

• achievement of a certain age by participants in sexual relations;
• understanding by the participants of the relations of the social essence of sexual relations, their possible consequences both physiological (pregnancy, infection with sexually transmitted diseases) and social character;
• sexual relations can arise only on an equal basis, in the absence of coercion, coercion or ignoring the will of one of the parties.

Other scientists also identify other signs of a normal way of having sex, in particular ^[7] :

• diversity of partners;
• the naturalness of sexual intercourse;
• lack of close relationship between partners.

It should be noted that these signs are practically not reflected in the criminal law and the recognition of some of them as deviations from the sexual norm is in itself debatable.

Many scientists define sexual crimes through the content of their species: sexual freedom and sexual integrity. So, R. R. Galiakbarov points out. that such crimes are understood as “socially dangerous encroachments on sexual integrity, the normal physical and mental development of persons under 16 years of age, on the sexual freedom of adults, or on the pattern of sexual relations established in society” provided for by criminal law ^[8] .

A. V. Korneeva defines sex crimes as “deliberate actions against sexual immunity and sexual freedom protected by the criminal law, as well as the moral and physical development of minors and causing harm to specific individuals” ^[9] . An indication in this definition of harm to specific individuals makes it possible to distinguish sex offenses from crimes against public morality, which also affect the sexual sphere.

Although the first monuments of Russian law (Russian Pravda, the Cathedral Code of 1649) provided for the punishability of sexual assaults, they did not stand out as an independent group of assaults and were considered in the framework of more general acts, such as insulting, inflicting “insult”, abuse ^[10] .

Only under Peter I did legislation appear in legislation specifically designed to protect against sexual assault. The military article of Peter I provided for liability for rape, sodomy, incest, other unlawful forms of sexual intercourse (both voluntary and involuntary), as well as for seducing an unmarried woman with a promise to marry her. Rather severe penalties were envisaged for sexual crimes: rape committed by “military men” was punishable by death, other harsh corporal punishment followed. At the same time, “in order to prevent extortion of money by lecherous women with the threat of a serious crime charge”, the military soldier established special requirements for the evidence that made the rape charge possible. So, the woman was supposed to announce what happened "immediately or before the end of the day." There should also be evidence of resistance in the form of evidence of outsiders about calls for help or traces on the body or clothing ^[10] .

Further development of the norms on sexual crimes was associated with the development of the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire. Legislative acts clearly traced the line of protection of the sexual interests of women who behave according to the moral principles of society. The Code only spoke of sexual crimes committed against an innocent girl, a married woman, and a widow. The liability for seduction was limited: this act was recognized as criminal only if the victims “were pregnant from the seducer” or if the minor and innocent victim was seduced by a person “having, by his or her special circumstances, supervision over her and more or less authority over her” ^{[ 11]} .

Significant progress in the formulation of standards on sexual offenses was made with the adoption of the Criminal and Correctional Penal Code (especially as amended in 1885). The main difference from previous regulations was the extension of criminal legal protection to all categories of women, regardless of their moral qualities ^[11] .

The most developed was the norm on rape. Rape recognized forced sexual intercourse; other forms of violent sexual activity could not be considered rape. Only a woman was recognized as the victim of rape. Rape with hard labor for 4 to 8 years was punished. The following were considered aggravating circumstances: rape of a married woman, abduction by deceit, beatings or torture, as well as perpetration of rape by a “guardian, guardian or mentor of the raped woman, custodian of the prison or other institution in which she was detained, a doctor who observed the raped woman, or any person having any, by rank or special circumstances, power over her ” ^[11] .

The Code contained a rule governing the specifics of the necessary defense during rape: it was allowed using any means, up to causing death to the assailant ^[11] .

The condition for liability for rape was the victim to provide serious and continuous resistance. The presence of the victim’s resistance was not required only if she was brought into a helpless state (unconsciousness or unnatural sleep) by the rapists themselves or by order of another person, or if the victim did not reach the age of 14 years ^[12] .

Separate elements of crimes provided for liability for rape, which resulted in the death of the victim, as well as her corruption (understood as physiological defloration). The attempted rape was rather widely regulated: for example, the abduction of a woman for the purpose of rape was considered ^[12] .

In addition to rape, the Code provided liability for the following sexual assaults: child molestation, seduction of a woman or girl, pandering (minors or minors from the side of their guardian, teacher or parent, and their wives by their husbands), indecent assault on minors, as well as sodomy and bestiality ^[12] .

The criminal code of 1903 significantly expanded the range of sexual assaults for which criminal liability was established. In addition to the previously mentioned acts, the punishability of voluptuous acts, fornication, indulgence or a penchant for indecency, as well as stinking content, was established. Increased responsibility was established for the commission of these acts against minors of both sexes. The Law on Responsibility for bestiality was not included in the Code ^[12] .

In the Soviet period, standards on sexual crimes continued to develop. The Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1922 placed them in the chapter “Crimes against the Life, Health, Freedom and Dignity of a Person”. The most stringent liability was established for rape, which was defined as “sexual intercourse using physical or mental violence or by using the helpless state of the injured person”. The qualifying sign of rape was considered as a victim of suicide. Non-violent sexual offenses by this code included sexual intercourse with persons who have not reached puberty, coupled with corruption or gratification of sexual passion in perverted forms; corruption of minors or minors through perverse acts. In addition, liability was established for acts related to sexual crimes, such as coercion to engage in prostitution, coupled with physical or mental impact, procuring, maintaining brothel dens and recruiting women for prostitution. Sodomy in this act was decriminalized ^[13] .

The editors of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1926 did not make fundamental changes to the regulation of liability for sexual crimes. Rape in this version of the code recognized “sexual intercourse using physical violence, threats, intimidation or using the helpless position of the injured person”; Qualifying signs of this act, in addition to the suicide of the injured person, recognized his commission in relation to a person who has not reached puberty, as well as the participation of several persons in its implementation. In court practice, similar acts of rape included other acts (for example, it was recommended that the RSFSR Supreme Court clarification of February 16, 1928 categorize rape as entering into a registered marriage for the purpose of using a woman sexually). For simple rape, the penalty was initially provided in the form of imprisonment for up to 5 years, for qualified - up to 8 years. Responsibility for rape was strengthened by the Decree “On Strengthening the Criminal Responsibility for Rape” of January 4, 1949, which provided for an increase in sanctions and the introduction of new qualifying features: rape of minors; rape, which entailed grave consequences ^[13] .

Among other sexual crimes, the woman was compelled to engage in sexual intercourse or to satisfy sexual passion in another form by a person in respect of whom the woman was financially or service dependent. The punishment was already the very compulsion to cohabit. At the same time, it was required to prove the existence of a coercion to sexual acts: simple offers to addicted persons to have sexual intercourse by the courts were not considered as constituting the composition of this crime. Related crimes included coercion to engage in prostitution, which included procurement, maintenance of brothels and the recruitment of women for prostitution ^[14] . The decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of April 1, 1934 reintroduced into the criminal code an article providing for liability for voluntary and violent sodomy.

The RSFSR Criminal Code of 1960 somewhat changed the system of sexual crimes. Rape, coercion of a woman to have sexual intercourse, sexual intercourse with a person who has not reached puberty, and sodomy, as before, included assaults on a person. The procurement and maintenance of brothels of corruption in the new code began to relate to crimes against public safety, public morality and public health. This innovation was not supported by a number of scientists who proposed not only to group these compounds together on the basis of sexual assault, but also to include the production and distribution of pornographic products and materials as sex offenses in sexual crimes ^[14] .

In the original version of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1960, liability for rape was regulated in the same way as in the Criminal Code of 1926 (as amended by the Decree of January 4, 1949). On February 15, 1962, a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On Enhancing Criminal Responsibility for Rape” was adopted, which introduced new qualified rape convictions, and the punishment for rape with a particularly qualified rape was strengthened before imprisonment for a term of 8 to 15 years with reference for a period of 2 to 5 years, or the death penalty. The introduction of the death penalty for rape has sparked protests from scholars and law enforcement; in practice, it was used mainly in the case of rape associated with murder ^[14] . In 1993, non-violent sodomy was decriminalized.

The Criminal Code of 1996 highlighted crimes against sexual freedom and the inviolability of the person in a separate chapter, specifying the signs of their basic and qualified personnel. Compositions of violent lesbianism and other sexual acts were added. Both women and men began to be considered victims of compulsion to enter into sexual contacts, and the number of ways of committing this act was significantly expanded ^[15] .

The norms of the Criminal Code establishing liability for sexual crimes do not remain unchanged. The most significant amendments to them were introduced by federal laws of July 27, 2009 No. 215-FZ and February 9, 2012 No. 14-FZ. Basically, these acts were aimed at increasing responsibility for sexual crimes committed against minors and minors. In particular, the last of the mentioned normative acts reintroduced the death penalty for rape of a minor, committed by a person previously convicted of sexual crimes against minors.

The generic object of these crimes is a person. By definition of G. N. Borzenkov, a person in criminal law is understood as “... a person considered in the system of social roles and public relations” ^[16] .

According to the most common point of view, sexual freedom and sexual integrity are a specific object of sexual crimes. In addition, some scholars suggest that “the way of sexual relations based on the norms of sexual morality” be considered as a specific object of these crimes ^[17] . The previously existing Criminal Code of the RSFSR in 1960 established liability for assaults on the prevailing sexual relationship (for example, non-violent sodomy), however, specific sexual crimes enshrined in the current Criminal Code practically do not affect this structure.

Under sexual freedom is understood the freedom of the individual in the sexual sphere, that is, the right to independently choose a sexual partner and determine the nature of the sexual relationship that a person wishes to enter into ^{[18] [5]} .

Sexual immunity refers to the legal prohibition of engaging in sexual relations with persons under 16 years of age and puberty, valid regardless of whether such sexual relations are violent or voluntary ^[19] . Some scholars also extend the concept of sexual integrity to persons who have reached the age of 16 ^[5] .

Among the additional objects of these crimes are the life and health of the victims, their bodily integrity ^[7] , as well as the interests of the normal physical and moral development of minors ^[20] .

Потерпевшим от половых преступлений может быть лицо любого пола: как мужчина, так и женщина. УК РФ в данной области является более прогрессивным, чем УК РСФСР 1960 года, в котором делался явный перекос в сторону охраны женского пола от сексуальных посягательств. Охрана интересов потерпевших осуществляется независимо от их социального статуса, рода занятий, морального облика и т.д.

Действующее российское уголовное законодательство не предусматривает составов половых посягательств на тела умерших и на животных. Соответствующие деяния рассматриваются как преступления против общественной нравственности в рамках более общих составов (ст. 244 УК РФ — «Надругательство над телами умерших и местами их захоронения» и ст. 245 УК РФ — «Жестокое обращение с животными»).

Смежными с половыми являются такие преступления против общественной нравственности, как вовлечение в занятие проституцией (ст. 240 УК РФ), организация занятия проституцией (ст. 241 УК РФ), незаконные изготовление и оборот порнографических материалов или предметов (ст. 242 УК РФ), изготовление и оборот материалов или предметов с порнографическими изображениями несовершеннолетних (ст. 242 ¹ УК РФ), использование несовершеннолетнего в целях изготовления порнографических материалов или предметов (ст. 242 ² УК РФ).

Насильственные половые преступления тесно связаны с преступлениями против жизни, здоровья и телесной неприкосновенности личности (например, с причинением средней тяжести вреда здоровью — ст. 112 УК РФ). В зависимости от ситуации, возможна как квалификация данных преступлений по совокупности с половыми преступлениями, так и конкуренция норм.

Объективная сторона данных преступлений включает активные действия в качестве основного элемента и имеет формальную конструкцию. Лишь отдельные квалифицированные составы насильственных половых преступлений имеют материальную конструкцию. Значительную роль при квалификации таких деяний играет способ совершения преступления: именно в зависимости от него половые преступления делятся на виды.

Субъективная сторона характеризуется умышленной формой вины (в некоторых квалифицированных составах — двойной формой вины). Мотивы и цели данных преступлений не описаны в уголовном законе. В подавляющем большинстве случаев они носят сексуальный характер, однако большинство учёных допускает возможность совершения половых преступлений и с иными мотивами и целями: например, известны ситуации, когда изнасилования и насильственные действия сексуального характера совершались по мотивам мести и личных неприязненных отношений, а также по найму.

Имеют особенности и характеристики субъекта половых преступлений. Для изнасилования и насильственных действий сексуального характера установлен пониженный возраст субъекта — 14 лет, а для развратных действий и полового сношения и иных действий сексуального характера с лицом, не достигшим 16-летнего возраста, — повышенный (18 лет). Кроме того, изнасилование может быть совершено только мужчиной.

Обычно половые преступления российскими учёными делятся на два вида ^[19] :

• насильственные половые преступления (изнасилование и насильственные действия сексуального характера — ст. 131 и 132 УК РФ);
• ненасильственные половые преступления (понуждение к половому сношению или иным действиям сексуального характера, половое сношение и иные действия сексуального характера, совершённые с лицом, не достигшим 16-летнего возраста и половой зрелости, развратные действия — ст. 133, 134, 135 УК РФ).

Некоторые авторы называют эти виды соответственно преступлениями против половой свободы и преступлениями против половой неприкосновенности ^[7] .

Данная классификация не является единственной. В частности, А. Е. Якубов классифицирует половые преступления по непосредственному объекту на ^[21] :

• посягающие на половую свободу, здоровье и честь взрослого человека (ст. 131 и ст. 133 УК РФ);
• посягающие на половую неприкосновенность, нормальное физическое, умственное и моральное развитие несовершеннолетних и малолетних (п. «а» ч. 3, п. «б» ч. 4, ч. 5 ст. 131, ст. 134, 135 УК РФ);
• включающие в себя разновидности половых отношений, сопряжённые с причинением вреда здоровью, чести и достоинству личности (ст. 132, 133 УК РФ).

С. И. Никулин приводит следующую классификацию ^[5] :

• деяния, сопряжённые с открытым сексуальным насилием (ст. 131, 132, 133 УК РФ);
• посягательства, связанные с грубыми нарушениями сексуальной морали, совершаемыми совершеннолетними лицами в отношении лиц, не достигших 16-летнего возраста и половой зрелости (ст. 134, 135 УК РФ).

По критерию способа совершения деяния, выделяется четыре группы половых преступлений ^[22] :

• connected with sexual intercourse (Article 131 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
• not connected with sexual intercourse (Articles 132, 133 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
• depraved acts (Article 135 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation);
• sexual intercourse and other sexual acts with a person under 16 years of age (Article 134 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).