Singapore
Singapore began debating its contradictory sex laws this month, after a man was sentenced to two years in jail for receiving oral sex. The case has sparked a lively public discussion in the letters columns of newspapers and on Internet chat sites. Prostitution is legal in the authoritarian island nation, but most nonmissionary sex acts are not. The women’s magazine Cosmopolitan and the racy TV show Sex and the City were banned until just a few months ago. Many young Singaporeans say the sex laws are antiquated, and they’ve persuaded Parliament to consider amending them in the next legislative session. The government said it supported the recent jail sentence because the convicted man was a police officer and his sex partner was only 15.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Israel intercepts 2nd Gaza aid flotilla in a weekSpeed Read The Israeli military intercepted a flotilla of nine boats with 145 activists aboard along with medical and food aid
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial uneaseSpeed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-offSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
