未成年人的健康成长直接关系到国家的长治久安和社会的和谐稳定，保护未成年人的权益，就是保护国家的未来和希望。性别平等是我国宪法和法律所确立的基本原则之一，也是人类所追求的核心价值，在法治社会的建设过程中起到至关重要的作用。然而，由于多种现实因素的影响，性别歧视和不平等现象仍然存在，且延伸至我国刑法对未成年人的保护领域。因此，关注我国刑法中未成年人性别差异保护问题，是保障未成年人权益、贯彻性别平等原则的必然要求。

我国刑法对未成年人进行特殊保护并体现性别差异的规定，主要包括性侵类犯罪、拐卖类犯罪、卖淫类犯罪三类犯罪。通过介绍这三类犯罪中涉及未成年人性别保护差异化罪名的法条规定与立法演进，说明我国刑法中存在对未成年人进行差异化性别保护的现象。而刑法作为调整社会关系、规范社会行为的文件，必然有其立论基础，我国刑法之所以对未成年人进行差异化性别保护，源于两性生理特征的固有差异、传统思想文化的长久影响以及社会实践案件的实际需求这三方面因素。

我国刑法对未成年人进行差异化的性别保护，严惩部分对于未成年女性实施的犯罪，看似体现出对女性的尊重，维护了社会公正，但其实这种差异化的性别保护带来了两大方面的问题。一方面，刑法性别差异保护条款体现出的包括性别刻板印象、男尊女卑立法观念、贞操法益观以及隐形生育观等在内的滞后的立法理念，其实是在变相地歧视和弱化女性；另一方面，刑法规定中“性交”的范围过于狭窄、“猥亵”和“强奸”的界定存在争议、保护对象存在性别偏向等问题，也使得我国刑法对于未成年男性合法权利的保护不够充分。

刑法应当平等保护不同性别的未成年人，这不仅能够解决差异化的性别保护带来的问题，同时也回应了国内与国外对未成年人平等保护的需求。一方面，我国男童遭受性侵害的比例呈现明显的上升趋势，对其身体、精神造成的伤害具有社会危害性，刑法并未对拐卖14周岁以上未成年男性的行为做定罪量刑的规定，引诱幼女卖淫罪不足以全面保护男童等情况，都使得加强未成年男性权利保护具有现实紧迫性，完善平等保护不同性别的未成年人的立法也是落实宪法等上位法和前置法的需要，更能避免司法解释的局限性。另一方面，平等保护未成年人也是践行关于人权平等保障、打击拐卖人口犯罪的相关国际公约的要求，适应域外刑事立法的趋势。

为改变刑法依性别差异化保护未成年人的现状，解决上述问题，适应国内外对于平等保护未成年人的要求，本文也提出了完善构思。为充分体现对未成年人利益的优先全面保护，可在刑法总则中增加严惩性侵未成年人的条款，在分则中对奸淫幼女型强奸犯罪、猥亵类犯罪、卖淫类犯罪、拐卖类犯罪等罪名进行立法完善，改变侵害未成年人犯罪的条款附属于侵害成年人犯罪的条款之立法模式，强化侵害未成年人犯罪罪名和刑罚的主体性和独立性，适用性别中立主义的立法模式，改变我国当前性别化的立法语言，并规范使用“儿童”概念，用“幼童”指称不满十四周岁的未成年人，并细化各侵害未成年人犯罪的年龄分级体系。

关键词：刑法性别差异性保护，未成年人权益，平等保护，刑法完善

The healthy growth of minors is directly related to the long-term stability of the country and the harmony and stability of society; to protect the rights and interests of minors is to protect the future and hope of the country. Gender equality is one of the basic principles established in China’s Constitution and laws, as well as a core value pursued by mankind, and plays a crucial role in the construction of a society governed by the rule of law. However, due to a variety of real-life factors, gender discrimination and inequality still exists, and extends to the protection of minors in China’s criminal law. Therefore, paying attention to the protection of minors’ gender differences in China’s criminal law is an inevitable requirement for safeguarding the rights and interests of minors and implementing the principle of gender equality.

The provisions of China’s criminal law that provide special protection for minors and reflect gender differentiation mainly include three categories of crimes: sexual assault, trafficking and prostitution. Through the introduction of the provisions of the law and the legislative evolution of the crimes involving the differentiated gender protection of minors in these three categories of crimes, it is shown that there exists the phenomenon of differentiated gender protection of minors in China’s criminal law. As a document that adjusts social relations and regulates social behavior, criminal law must have its own theoretical basis, and the reason why China’s criminal law provides differentiated gender protection for minors stems from the inherent differences in the physiological characteristics of the two sexes, the long-lasting influence of traditional ideology and culture, and the actual needs of social practice cases.

China’s criminal law provides differential gender protection for minors and severely punishes some crimes committed against female minors, which may seem to reflect respect for women and uphold social justice, but in fact, this differential gender protection has brought about problems in two major areas. On the one hand, the provisions of the Criminal Law that protect gender differences reflect the lagging legislative concepts, including gender stereotypes, the legislative concept of male superiority and female inferiority, the concept of chastity and the concept of invisible procreation, etc., which are in fact discriminating against and weakening females in disguise; on the other hand, the scope of “sexual intercourse” in the Criminal Law provisions is too narrow, On the other hand, the scope of "sexual intercourse" in the criminal law is too narrow, the definitions of “indecent assault” and “rape” are controversial, and there is a gender bias in the object of protection, which also makes China’s criminal law insufficiently protect the legal rights of underage males.

Criminal law should provide equal protection for minors of different genders, which not only solves the problems posed by differentiated gender protection, but also responds to the demands for equal protection of minors both at home and abroad. On the one hand, the proportion of boys in China who have been sexually abused has shown a clear upward trend, and the harm caused to their bodies and minds is socially hazardous; the criminal law does not provide for the conviction and sentencing of abducting and trafficking in underage males over 14 years of age, and the crime of inducing young girls to engage in prostitution is insufficient to fully protect boys, all of which makes it urgent to strengthen the protection of the rights of male minors, and to improve the legislation on the equal protection of minors of different genders is also a means to implement the Constitution and the Law on the Protection of Minors. Improving legislation on the equal protection of minors of different genders is also a requirement for the implementation of the Constitution and the Protection of Minors Act and other superior and antecedent laws, and better avoids the limitations of judicial interpretations. On the other hand, the equal protection of minors is also a way of practicing the requirements of international conventions on the equal protection of human rights and on combating the crime of human trafficking, as well as adapting to the trend of extra-territorial criminal legislation.

In order to change the current situation of gender-based protection of minors under criminal law, solve the above problems and meet the domestic and international requirements for equal protection of minors, this paper also puts forward ideas for improvement. In order to fully realize the priority and comprehensive protection of the interests of minors, we can add provisions in the general provisions of the criminal law to severely punish sexual abuse of minors, and improve the legislation of crimes such as rape, indecent assault, prostitution and abduction of young girls in the sub-principles, change the legislative mode of attaching the provisions of crimes against minors to the provisions of crimes against adults, and strengthen the subjectivity and independence of the crime of crimes against minors and the penalties, and apply the gender-neutral legislative mode to change the current situation of China’s criminal law in terms of gender-differentiated protection of minors. In addition, the Government has also strengthened the subjectivity and independence of crimes and penalties for crimes against minors, applied a gender-neutral legislative model, changed China’s current gendered legislative language, standardized the use of the concept of “child” to refer to minors under the age of 14, and refined the age-grading system for all crimes against minors. (c) To change the current gendered legislative language in China and standardize the use of the concept of “child” to refer to minors under the age of 14, as well as to refine the age classification system for crimes against minors.

KEY WORDS: Gender-specific protection in criminal law, Rights and interests of minors, Equal protection, Criminal law improvement