Sexual abuse

Current status

Current status of child sexual abuse

Sexual abuse of minors mainly refers to child prostitution, forms of business focusing on the sex of children (children here are legally defined as those under the age of 18), molestation, stalking, and lewd sexual acts, etc. The number of victims in Japan is confirmed to be about 2000 per year. Although this number may seem small compared to the number of cases of starvation on a worldwide scale, the actual number of victims and the number of arrests for sexual assault are quite different. It can be imagined that the percentage of underage victims who consult with their parents about sexual abuse is even lower than the percentage of those who do so in Japan. Moreover, sexual victimization of minors is not only a problem in Japan. In a survey conducted in the U.S, 11% of high school students reported having been sexually abused.

However, even among these countries, Japan lags behind in its actions against sexual abuse of minors.

While the number of victims and the number of consultations with child consultation centers are reported to be around 2,000, estimates made by experts report that 39.4% of females and 10.0% of males had been sexually abused by the age of 18. Of course, we cannot say that this is an accurate survey because the degree of this “victimization” depends on each person, and we cannot use this data to say that Japan has more sexual abuse than any other country. In fact, according to a survey by a United Nations agency, Japan's sexual crime rate is below the world average, and less than half that of Ireland/Sweden and the United States. However, what we would like to convey here is that a low rate of sexual crimes does not necessarily mean that there is less sexual victimization. In Sweden, in all cases, a crime is considered a crime unless both sides consent to it, and the higher rates of notification of sexual Conversely, Japan has a problem in that many sexual crimes occur under the radar or are acquitted due to lack of evidence, which leads to the perception that sexual harm is not serious in Japan.

Legal Issues

The law against sexual crimes in Japan faces many problems, and the 2017 revision of the Penal Code for Sexual Crimes has finally resolved some of these issues. Although the age of consent for sexual intercourse was raised from 13 to 16 years of age, there are still no measures to punish non-consensual sexual acts (to the extent that they are not considered violent or threatening), which is considered problematic. In addition, sufficient evidence is required to prosecute these crimes, and in many cases of sexual abuse, no evidence remains, or the child's testimony alone is not accepted as evidence, making it difficult to say that the rights of the child are being recognized. Currently, the environment in which minor victims find it difficult to seek advice or report crimes, inadequate care for sexual abuse, and the need to revise the law remain as problems.

Molestation and Sneak Photography in Japan

Looking at the results of the aforementioned UN survey in detail, it is clear that Japan has a higher rate of obscenity crimes than other countries. This is said to be due to the “crowded train” characteristic of Japan, which makes it difficult to determine the identity of the perpetrator. Sneak photography also occurs frequently in train stations, and although domestic smartphones are equipped with a shutter sound to prevent this, recently there has been an increase in malicious tactics, such as the use of apps that can mute the shutter sound and the misuse of small cameras.

Internet-mediated sexual crimes

In recent years, with the spread of the Internet, sexual crimes against minors through the Internet have been on the rise. On the legal aspect, the “Dating Site Regulation Law” was enacted in 2003 and revised in 2019 to prevent minors from being victimized through dating sites (or matching applications). However, the definition of a dating site is unclear and has yet to eliminate sexual crimes on social networking sites.

Improvements

Considering the problem of sexual abuse of minors described in the current situation, concrete measures for improvement would be “revision of laws and ordinances” and “education on sexual abuse.”

Revision of laws and ordinances

The revision of laws and ordinances is the most effective and achievable measure currently in place. As mentioned in the current status, many sexual abuse cases are now correctly punished due to the 2017 and 2020 legal revisions. There are clear issues that need to be resolved, such as the challenge that sexual acts that do not involve violence or other forms of sexual conduct are not guilty even if there is no consent, the fact that the other side's name is known through the trial, and the possibility of acquittal due to the existence of a statute of limitations.

Education on sexual abuse

The fact that sexual education in Japan is lagging behind is obvious when we look at the differences in the way sexual education is handled in Japan compared to the surrounding developed countries. In particular, there is a belief in Japan that sexual education should be provided only after puberty, as if children cannot understand it. However, from the viewpoint of sexual victimization, it is too late to start education from puberty. Sexual victimization is not limited to upper elementary school students, but extends to younger children as well. Of course, it is not the kind of content that should be taught to adolescents; it is only important to provide them with the minimum knowledge that can prevent sexual victimization. It is true that there are cases in which children themselves are unaware that they are being victimized, especially when sexual victimization occurs in the elementary school years. It is effective to educate children about sexual abuse prevention from the early elementary school years, and to teach them common sense about sexuality at home as well.