Tokyo: A panel of the Japanese Justice Ministry has proposed raising the age of consent from 13 to 16. Japan is poised to raise the age of consent from 13 to 16 in an overhaul of legislation prompted by criticism that existing laws fail to protect children from rape and other sexual offences.
A justice ministry panel has proposed raising the age of consent from 13 – the lowest among all G7 countries – as part of a series of reforms to the penal code that will also make voyeurism a criminal offence and clarify the requirements for rape prosecutions.
The overhaul of Japan’s laws on sex crimes comes after several rape acquittals in 2019 caused public outcry, including a case in which a man repeatedly raped his teenage daughter.
A branch of the Nagoya district court acquitted the father and prompted anger when it said there was no definitive proof that the daughter had been unable to resist, even though it recognised that she had not consented. A higher court later overturned the decision and sentenced the man to 10 years in prison.
Japanese criminal law requires two conditions to be met to conclude that a sexual assault has been committed – sex must be non-consensual, and there must be proof that the victim was unable to physically resist.
Among the most controversial provisions in the existing law is a requirement that prosecutors prove that rape perpetrators used “violence and intimidation” to incapacitate their victims.
The justice ministry panel did not remove the wording in its recommendation, but clarified that the definition also covers intoxication, drugging, catching victims “off-guard” and the use of psychological control.
The clarification “isn’t meant to make it easier or harder” to secure rape convictions, but “will hopefully make court verdicts more consistent,” a ministry official said.
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