Sexual abuse cases against children under 17 jumped 20 per cent in 2025 from the previous year in Hong Kong, with the security minister vowing to tighten laws that will better protect victims by next June.

Police figures presented to legislators on Wednesday showed that there were 797 cases of sexual offences against children last year, up from 663 cases in 2024.

In 2021, there were 599 such cases. The figure fell to 578 the following year but rose to 696 in 2023.

Statistics for 2025 also showed that 46 people were prosecuted for having sex with girls under the age of 16, and four were prosecuted for sex with girls under the age of 13. The number of prosecutions related to those crimes were 42 and nine, respectively, in 2024.

Under Hong Kong’s Criminal Procedure Ordinance, anyone under 17 years of age is considered a child. Offences in the Crimes Ordinance relating to unlawful sexual activities performed on children include incest, rape, anal intercourse and indecent assault.

In a written reply to a question by social welfare sector legislator Grace Chan Man-yee, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung maintained that the government understood society’s concerns and was studying the implementation of the Law Reform Commission’s recommendations contained in its two reports published in 2019 and 2022 on sexual offence legislation.

“The legislative exercise, which aims at strengthening legal protection for victims, especially children, is targeted for completion within the current term of government,” Tang said.