Section 132Part 5 — Offences Injurious to the Public in General
Indecent assaults
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132. (1) It is an offence for a person to make an indecent assault on a woman.
A girl under the age of sixteen cannot in law give any consent which would prevent an act being an assault for the purposes of this section.
Where a marriage or civil partnership is invalid under the Marriage Act (2010 Revision) or the Civil Partnership Act, 2020 [Law 35 of 2020] (one person being under the age of sixteen), the invalidity does not make the other person an offender under this section by reason of the said person’s incapacity to consent while under that age, if the other person believes the said person to be their spouse or civil partner and has reasonable cause for the belief.
A person with a mental disorder cannot in law give any consent which would prevent an act being an assault for the purposes of this section, but a second person is only to be treated as having committed indecent assault on a person with a mental disorder by reason of the person’s incapacity to consent, if the second person knew or had reason to suspect the person to have a mental disorder.
A person who commits an offence under this section is liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for ten years. Section 132A Penal Code (2026 Revision) Page 60 Revised as at 31st December, 2025 c 132A. Assault by penetration 132A. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person, (A) who, for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification intentionally and without consent, penetrates (whether orally, vaginally or anally) another person (B), with an object or with any part of A’s body, commits an offence and is liable on —
summary conviction; or
conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term of ten years.
A child under the age of sixteen cannot consent to a penetration under this section.