The age of consent in Japan has been suggested to be increased from 13 to 16.
Following numerous rape acquittals in 2019, it is a part of a larger revamp of Japan’s sex crime legislation.
The proposal also wants to make rape more broadly defined and criminalize the grooming of kids.
The reporting deadline for rape will also be extended, going from 10 to 15 years.
Japan currently has the lowest age of consent among developed nations and the lowest among the G7 nations.
The legal drinking age is 14, 15, and 16 in Germany, Italy, Greece, and France, as well as in the UK and numerous American states.
In order to be found guilty under Japan’s present legal system, rape victims must demonstrate that “violence and intimidation” were employed during the rape and that it was “difficult to resist.”
This definition has not been altered by the panel; rather, additional elements such as intoxication, drug use, being caught off guard, and psychological control have been included.
According to Yusuke Asanuma, a representative of the Justice Ministry, this “isn’t supposed to make it easier or harder” for victims to win a rape case but rather that it should make verdicts “more uniform.”
After significant protests in 2019 in response to a number of acquittals, the sex crime statutes have been reexamined. In one instance, a man who was accused of having sex with his daughter, a teenager, was exonerated after the court determined that it was done against her choice. He was ultimately imprisoned after the prosecution filed an appeal.
Another witnessed the acquittal of a man accused of raping a drunken lady who had passed out because he had “misunderstood” her to have given agreement to the relationship.
As soon as this summer, the administration might enact the bill. Notwithstanding the prospective adjustment to the age of consent, there will still be an exception for sexual activity between individuals who are at least 13 years old and have an age difference of under five years.
