Japanese woman found dead in Hungary had sought embassy help over DV

They said she sought help from the Japanese embassy last summer, reporting she had been the subject of domestic violence and requesting documents to facilitate her children's return, but was instead advised to negotiate with her ex-husband.

Is this a *** joke? The womand feared for her life and asked for help and they advised her... to negociate?!? These people need to be arrested and tried too.

Japanese consulates should be able to issue emergency passports. What is going on here?

After divorcing in 2023, the woman had been unable to return to Japan with their two children as her ex-husband had taken their passports, according to the lawyer and supporters.

After divorcing in 2023, the woman had been unable to return to Japan with their two children as her ex-husband had taken their passports, according to the lawyer and supporters.

This is an absolute tragedy, but fingers MUST be pointed at Japan's infamous, long-standing refusal to sign up to the Hague Convention for child abduction, as it once again comes back to haunt everyone involved - trapping children in the middle of international custody battles and, in this case, escalating an already volatile situation to a horrific conclusion.

While the husband is entirely to blame for this horrible murder, Japan's archaic family law system, which treats parental abduction as a right rather than a crime, left BOTH parents in a legal limbo that likely fueled this disaster. And of course, the authorities hesitated to act - because when a country refuses to acknowledge international custody norms, it leaves everyone, especially the children, caught in an impossible, dangerous mess.

RIP to the woman lost and thoughts and prayers to the children who know have neither a mother nor a father for the foreseeable future.

*now

Sadly, the Embassy but also the Japanese gov, failed her.

I wish I could say there are some lessons learned here, however, those birocrats won't care. She is just a number of the statistics.... Just like in any corporation in Japan. And not only.

Sounds to me like she should've told the embassy the passports were stolen. They technically were.

@ jay :

If Japan had signed the hair convention it would've worked against her; If she could get back to Japan, the exhusband would've had a legal option to interfere.

As it is now if she made it to Japan the exhusband would have no options.

The embassy's response was terrible, but the police were even worse.

According to the woman's lawyer,

the police were very negative about the woman's complaint from the beginning, saying, “This is not a crime or anything in Hungary, this is ridiculous.” 

I have heard that domestic violence is much more in other countries than in Japan, but is there any country where domestic violence is not a crime?

They said she sought help from the Japanese embassy last summer, reporting she had been the subject of domestic violence and requesting documents to facilitate her children's return, but was instead advised to negotiate with her ex-husband.

.

Why was it an issue for the embassy to simply issue documents for travel?

The woman no longer had a marital relationship.

A friend said she had been too afraid to engage in discussions with her ex-husband due to his violent tendencies.

Surely, this fact and fear of violence was clear to the embassy staff?

Was the embassy against issuing documents for the children as the father was a foreigner?

One can only wonder.

It seems that the embassy was pretty useless and prescriptive in its dealings with one of its own citizens.

This ended in an unnecessary death…

They said she sought help from the Japanese embassy last summer, reporting she had been the subject of domestic violence and requesting documents to facilitate her children's return, but was instead advised to negotiate with her ex-husband.

That part floored me at first, but then I considered that from the embassies point of view this could be seen as a case of child kidnapping by one partner. Something we have heard before. How were they to decide?

It seems the usual supporters of a husband in a divorce are giving their opinions again. Unfortunately sometimes there is domestic violence in a relationship, That is why Japan is trying to protect the families from abusive husbands and partners.

Was the embassy against issuing documents for the children as the father was a foreigner?

Issuing documents for children requires the consent of both parents in the EU and Japan too as long as they are married

"Japanese woman found dead in Hungary had sought embassy help over DV."

I'm not sure what's going on here, but what I'm sure of Japanese embassies are very protective of their own people.

This is why Japan thumbs its nose at the Haigue’s parental、 child abduction policies

This is why Japan thumbs its nose at the Haigue’s parental、 child abduction policies

...and will see more and more of it's citizens dead as long as it does, because the whole international community is fed up with Japan already. This woman might have still been alive if the Japanese government would have not been so supportive of international child abduction

No matter what's going on in the divorce, she didn't deserve to die.

The CCTC is pretty incriminating.

And in Europe they won't let just one parent travel without consent from the other parent.

Sadly the Japanese embassy probably could not do much anyway.

It seems like the Hungarian authorities failed this woman far more than the embassy.

I take it other posters are not suggesting a Japanese embassy goes against judgements by local authorities about family matters and custody. Because there are already many bad precedents about that.

Hungary is a first world country, a fully paid up member of the EU which on paper is probably supposed to have more women's rights than Japan. I would blame the embassy to the extent to which they already know and would likely expect the Hungarian authorities to be hopeless. As a EU member, they certainly should not be.

This woman might have still been alive if the Japanese government would have not been so supportive of international child abduction

The Japanese in this case performed exactly as the West wanted - unless there is ironclad proof of domestic abuse, don't just let the woman "abduct" the children on their accusations.

As a result of the Western wishes, a Japanese woman died. You don't get to turn around when things go bad for you, West.

 This woman might have still been alive if the Japanese government would have not been so supportive of international child abduction

Mothers are more likely to endure abuse from their spouses if they can’t return to their home country with their children.

If Japan had signed the hair convention it would've worked against her; If she could get back to Japan, the exhusband would've had a legal option to interfere.

The Hague would have worked against her, as courts abroad rule for joint custody in the country of residence...not the mother's native country. That means in order to stay with her child, she must stay in the abusive husband's native land where she has little to no support, friends or family and often can't speak the language adequately enough to be independent . This is why Japan doesn't intervene when mothers from failed marriages (with abusive spouses) return with their children. Foreign spouses rarely go to court over custody in Japan...More often then not they lure their wives abroad then take them to court.

The woman's ex-husband was Irish unless he had dual nationality and if so not the native place of neither.

The woman's ex-husband was Irish unless he had dual nationality and if so not the native place of neither.

> After divorcing in 2023, the woman had been unable to return to Japan with their two children as her ex-husband had taken their passports, according to the lawyer and supporters.

Whether she had passports or not is irrelavent regarding child abduction. According to the Hague, taking her two children back to Japan without her husband's consent is tantamount to "child abduction"

Japanese consulates should be able to issue emergency passports. What is going on here?

They can and do. This looks like a case in which the victim was unaware and was not adequately informed by the Japanese embassy in Budapest which was negligent to say the least.

Not that several commentators here will care for... but if Japan have had signed the Hague Convention, that will have resulted for the children not to be ablle to go to Japan with their mother.

Unless many commentators are suggesting that the woman should have left Hungary alone (without her children)... then I don't know why you are saying about Hague... in this case the consulate proceed somewhat within what is expected for a Conventon signee.

Additionally, for the embassy or consulate to issue a passport, its required to submit the old one, or if its the case to present a police report for the lost/stollen passport.

Given that the passport for the children where not technicaly stolen (by the article it is know that the father is the one that was in possetion of the passports), then issuing new one is not viable.

Issuing emergency travel documents, for this the matter is even more complicated, you need a police report and to show that the people who need the passport (the children) are in imminet threat. By legal point of view, the children were not in any danger, if you would say that the mother was murdered.... yes but only the mother the children are allegedly safe.

You must understand that these type of thing (family matter) are not something that the embassy (basically the japanese government) can interveing so easily... or are you suggesting that a government of a country interceeds authority in a foreing country and in a family matter???

It is a sad conlusion for the victim and her children, but diplomatic missons are not magical agencies that can do anything they want. Eventhough there are many diplomats from every country (including Japan) that think they can do so.....

Shameful and lazy embassy staff. They are there to help their citizens however possible. What’s the point of wasting tax money o their salaries……they are not there to feel special because they can live abroad……. they should be fired, not given a posting ever again or even given criminal charges. Waste of space.

Jay,

Japan signed up to The Hague convention more than a decade ago. Where have you been?

And you got it backwards. It’s probably because Japan is a member of the convention that the Japanese embassy refused passports without the father’s consent as the children’s habitual residence is Hungary, not Japan I presume.

If Japan had never signed The Hague convention then maybe the woman would still be alive.

I am not fully aware of protocols but as stated by a view of the posts, I have seen previously EU requires consent from both parents over border crossings. her family in jpn failed her, if aware, they should have lobbied Jpn gov. ??? u don't know until you hit the press with it. Cut the female blame out guys, they may hassle a bit, if it gives you mental health issues your problem. Cut a deal and get out. Condescending of me, my better half and I had a very deep u'standing even b4 the consensual birth. She wanted bibi b4 she got old?

nah problem. She only beats me on the tennis court, by keeping the ball in play, philosophically.

Hungary allows a parent to take children out of the country for short visits without the permission of the other parent.

Hungary allows a parent to take children out of the country for short visits without the permission of the other parent.

Do you think this looks like the children would be taken out of the country for short visits with intent to return? Intentional sophistry relying on the burden of proof may work for individual criminal defendants, but not for state officials.

Hungary allows a parent to take children out of the country for short visits without the permission of the other parent.

Cool. The Hague doesn't allow for one parent to take the children from their place of residence to the country of the parent (to live with that parent) when that country isn't the country of residence of the child. Such a case would be considered child abduction.