Japan with its modern practices and cutting-edge technologies, seems to be the last country of the modern world to understand the concept “no means no”.
Japan’s House of Councillors has just unanimously passed the Reform Bill; this bill amends the barely existing laws Japan had set in place for rape and sexual assault.
One of the major changes Japan has brought on by the new bill is that they have increased the age of consent from 13 to 16. Apart from this Japan has also taken a huge step by officially recognising grooming as a crime. For the first time in Japan, according to the bill asking underage kids (below 16) for sexual photos or anything of that kind is a criminal offense.
Japan has taken changed its laws due to the previous laws being uncertain leading to a difficulty in registering and reporting cases.
This new bill will also address the topic of sexual pictures being taken without the person's consent. This is a major issue in Japan as people are known to take pictures up girls' skirts while in crowded spaces.
Although these new laws are a good and well-needed change for Japan, they still need to teach and preach these laws to the country’s 125.7 million people.
These rules might seem normal to anyone viewing Japan from the outside, but this isn’t true at all. Just looking at the numbers we can understand the horrible conditions of Japan’s rape and sexual assault culture.
Japan has reported 1.66 thousand cases of rape in 2022 this number is significantly lower than the actual number as many people in Japan do not come forward to report rape and such crimes due to the insignificant rules and regulations.
As the saying goes better late than never, so let us hope Japan and its citizens are able to follow through on their new laws.
© Vygr Media Private Limited 2023. All Rights Reserved.
