Japan’s parliament on Friday approved raising the country’s age of consent to 16 from one of the lowest in the world (13) as part of a reform of legislation to combat sexual assault.
The reform, which also clarifies the requirements for prosecuting rape and criminalizes voyeurism, was unanimously approved by the House of Lords.
The minimum age of consent – below which any sexual activity is considered rape – is 16 in the UK or South Korea, 15 in France and 14 in Germany and China.
The age of consent in Japan has never changed since it was introduced in 1907.
In practice, however, it is sometimes assumed that ministerial regulations prohibiting “lewd” acts involving minors are raising the minimum age of sexual consent to 18 in many parts of the country.
According to the new law, sexual relations between two young people over the age of 13 will not be penalized if the elapsed time between the two partners is no more than five years.
“A big step forward”
Japan changed its sexual violence laws in 2017, the first in more than a century, but for many the reform didn’t go far enough.
In 2019, a series of acquittals in rape cases sparked nationwide protests.
The reform, passed on Friday, also includes a new criminal offense punishing those who use intimidation, seduction or money to coerce minors under the age of 16 into meeting them for sexual purposes. These acts are punishable by up to a year in prison or a 500,000 yen fine.
One of the most criticized points in Japan’s rape law so far is that prosecutors must prove that the accused used “force and intimidation”.
Critics of such restrictive conditions argue that victims are often accused of failing to defend themselves adequately, pointing out that during a rape, the victim may freeze or yield for fear of further injury.
“It’s important to tighten the law because I think it would allow fewer victims,” responded Takuma Shinomiya, a 21-year-old student interviewed by AFP in Tokyo on Friday.
Raising the age of consent will “send a signal to society that adult sexual violence against minors is unacceptable,” Japanese NGO Human Rights Now said in a statement, calling the reform package a “major step forward.”