Jakarta –
Japan’s justice ministry panel has put forward a proposal to raise the age of consent to 16 as part of an overhaul of its sex crimes law. The law governing this will be revised during the Parliamentary session which will last until June.
Site First Post explained that in addition to increasing the age of consent, the panel also proposed the criminalization of grooming for minors. They also plan to broaden the definition of rape to include acts committed with drugs and drunkenness.
The move was welcomed by sexual assault activists and survivors, but added that the government had still failed to meet international rape law standards.
The origin of the age of consent in Japan
The legal age in Japan for consensual sex is currently 13. This rule has been in effect in Japan since 1907.
At that time, the average life expectancy for women was 44 years and it was common for women to marry and have children at a young age. In society at the time, 13 was considered the normal age of consent.
In addition, the legal age for marriage was 15 years at that time. Hence the age of 13, which is two years younger than 15 years, is considered plausibly the age of consent.
In the more than 100 years since then, its age has not changed and is currently one of the lowest ages in the world.
However, the laws around sex and rape in Japan are somewhat ambiguous; under the Juvenile Obscene Acts passed in 1947, no one over the age of 14 could have sex with a child aged 13-14.
The minimum sentence for sex with a girl under the age of 13 is five years. However, 13 and 14 year olds are allowed to give consent to each other.
The proposed changes in law come at a significant time for Japan. In 2019, there were protests in the country following several acquittals of rapists, including a case in which a man repeatedly raped his teenage daughter.
According to a report in The Guardian, the Nagoya district court acquitted a father, who in this case was the perpetrator, saying there was no conclusive evidence that the victim was unable to resist, although it acknowledged that the victim did not consent.
A higher court later overturned the decision and sentenced the man to 10 years in prison.
In addition, the number of sex offenses in Japan has soared sharply, with cases of forced sex rising 19.3 percent to 1,656 in 2022, according to government data. The number of cases of sexual violence involving violence or threats also rose 9.9 percent to 4,708 cases.
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(knock/naf)
