Japan alters definition of rape after passing landmark bill in parliament

Japan has become the latest country to alter its definition of rape. The Asian country has passed laws that redefine rape and raise the age of consent.

Moving forward, the definition of rape includes "non consensual sexual intercourse" which is a stark contrast to the previous definition of "forcible sexual intercourse". The Lower House of the Japanese parliament passed the bill last month and the Upper House did the same on Friday.

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Additionally, the legal window for reporting rape has been raised to 15 years from 10 years, to give survivors more time to come forward. The age of consent has been raised from 13, among the world's lowest, to 16 years old. Although a caveat has been added, which states that a person who has had sex with a minor aged 13 to 15 will only be punished if they are five or more years older than the minor.

The language of the law lays down eight scenarios where an individual victim is unable to provide consent to sexual intercourse. These include the situation when the victim is intoxicated with alcohol or drugs or has been threatened using violence. Another scenario takes into measure the abuse of power, which usually occurs in place of work where refusal to engage in sexual acts with a powerful person can have devastating effects.

Japan, largely has been a conservative country where victims of sexual assaults are seen in a bad light. A 2021 government survey showed it is due to this stigma that only about six per cent of men and women reported an assault to the police, and nearly half of the women said they couldn’t do so because of “embarrassment”.

Changing rape definition works

Changing the definition of rape has shown tangible results. In 2018, Sweden changed the legal definition rape to sex without consent, akin to the one in Japan. As a result, the National Council on Crime Prevention (Bra) noted that convictions had risen from 190 in 2017 to 333 in 2019.

“We were surprised there was such an increase. It’s a good sign. This has led to greater justice for victims of rape," Bra senior researcher Stina Holmberg said at the time.

Japan attempts to keep sexual crimes in check

The Japanese government has been amending the laws to tackle increased sexual crimes. Last month, a bill was brought in that prohibits "upskirting" (taking pictures up a girl's skirt unbeknownst to her) and secret filming of sexual acts.

The gropers, often called "chikan" in the local language, prey on women, especially in the famously crowded public transport system. For long, there had been demands from the public to bring a law making the offence punishable.

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Reports state that anyone found violating the law could face imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to $22,000 (Three million Japanese yen).

(With inputs from agencies)

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