Sex crimes remain significantly underreported in Japan: gov't survey

TawkeeoToday 02:25 am JST

Crimes involving sexual harassment are massively underreported throughout the world, it's not just a Japan thing, therefore Japan, as is usually the case, shouldn't take all the blame. One only needs to look at the US, or the UK, to find proof, for example.

First, the article did not claim Japan is worse than any other country. It merely states that sex crimes are under reported.

However, stats actually do indicate that sex crimes are more under reported in Japan in the US. In the US, the stat is 10% while in Japan the stat is 4%, so indeed, Japan is actually worse.

This is due to the culture as well as problems in the system itself. For example, women in Japan are taught that rape is their fault, while there has been a significant cultural shift in the US and UK to make sure women know that rape is not their fault. In addition, the US and UK have taken specific measures to help women feel more comfortable reporting, such as having female officers who specialize in rape trauma and who are specifically trained for the job. In Japan, the officers are mostly male and there is no effort to make sure a female officer is available in rape cases.

There are obviously other factors as well; this is just two examples.

With that being said, the term "sexual crime" in itself is very vague. Rape, chikans, for example, these are legitimate crimes.

Actually, sex crimes are well-defined in the law. The word "sex crime" is not legal parlance.

However. Sex crimes are also a category that is very easy to manipulate in favor of the female in hypothetical question.

This is patently false. In fact, the opposite is true: sex crimes are very difficult to prove, and the vast majority do not even go to court.

I come from an eastern European country that's known for its touristy islands and its ancient civilization. You'd be surprised just how many women go to the police for supposed sexual harassment or even rape, after having an one night stand.

This is one of the most pervasive false narratives about rape that there is. Women do not have one night stands and then cry rape. Women are loath to report real instances of rape - the shame and stigma are significant. Why would they want to report false ones, and have to go though all of that for no reason?

That's like saying you believe women are so vindictive that they are willing to be publicly shamed just to get back at a guy for what, not wanting to date her? In addition, if a woman was so embarrassed that she'd had sex, why would she announce it to a room full of police, go through questioning where the police want every detail, and then a trial where she has to talk about the sex she had to a courtroom full of people, and possibly even have it publihed in the newspaper? She would have to be completely mentally unbalanced. Which brings us to another point: when false accusations do happen, they are very clearly false, because the kind of mental unbalance it takes to report a false crime is not difficult to detect, and the police question women as if they were the guilty ones from the beginning. Very very few reports of any crimes are false, and even fewer actually go to court - and that includes rape.

I'm all for these crimes being reported, as they're some of the worst and most disgusting. But only when those crimes are legitimate and not a form of getting money.

You only say this after making clear that you do not believe most accusations are true, so why would anyone think that this statement is not completely disingenuous?

As always, don't let these articles distract you from the fact that Japan is one of the safest, if not the, countries in the world. You don't get the atrocities that happen in the US (on a daily basis, from dudes going to schools and shooting everyone, to police men shootimg innocent people, just a few examples), here.

Japan is not safe for women. One of the major reasons for this is the lack of support for women who are sexually assaulted, the trauma one goes though in reporting a sex crime, the fact that the police don't take sex crimes as seriously as they do other crimes, the shame and stigma heaped on women who report, and the fact that women are taught that rape and sexual assault are their fault - this last one is especially importnat, because men are taught the same thing. They don't see groping or harassment as a big deal, know women won't fight back, and know they can get away with it. Every woman I know here has been sexually assaulted in some form, from street harassment to groping to rape. I have experienced much more sexual harassment here than I did when I lived in the US. Significantly more, in fact. I have also traveled the world, and the only other country I have ever been groped in was India. What does that tell you?

Crimes involving sexual harassment are massively underreported throughout the world, it's not just a Japan thing, therefore Japan, as is usually the case, shouldn't take all the blame. One only needs to look at the US, or the UK, to find proof, for example.

With that being said, the term "sexual crime" in itself is very vague. Rape, chikans, for example, these are legitimate crimes.

However. Sex crimes are also a category that is very easy to manipulate in favor of the female in hypothetical question.

I come from an eastern European country that's known for its touristy islands and its ancient civilization. You'd be surprised just how many women go to the police for supposed sexual harassment or even rape, after having an one night stand.

I'm all for these crimes being reported, as they're some of the worst and most disgusting. But only when those crimes are legitimate and not a form of getting money.

As always, don't let these articles distract you from the fact that Japan is one of the safest, if not the, countries in the world. You don't get the atrocities that happen in the US (on a daily basis, from dudes going to schools and shooting everyone, to police men shootimg innocent people, just a few examples), here.

The take away is that Japan’s ‘low’ reported crime stats simply cannot be trusted and cross country comparisons are essentially meaningless when crime reporting is so blatantly disincentivised. Be situationally aware and rely on the evidence of your own eyes and ears rather than buy into the safety country complacency. Female acquaintances anecdotal reports of being stalked or groped and all those warning signs about ひたくり bag snatchers, refute the notion that one can afford to let down one’s guard because such things don’t happen here.

I know several women who have been assaulted in one form or another (or others), and only know two among them who went to the police. BOTH women said it was pretty much worse than the actual assault, with police forcing them to reenact positions, asked for vivid details of their sexual history, and sighed at first when they insisted on reporting it instead of just letting it go.

Hardly unique to Japan.

We live in a world that continues to treat women as second class citizens, yes, even those in supposed first world countries with high rankings for 'women's equality.'

Rape itself is highly under reported around the globe, because the victims feel they will not be taken seriously.

When people are told to 'gaman' harassment and bullying from a young age, why would they trust any authority figure enough to report it sexual harassment/assault?

Unreported rapes and sexual assaults are very common throughout the world. The trauma of reporting the assault can be more terrifying than the actual assault. However, perhaps Japan has more than its fair share of molesting creeps.

No kidding. I have over a dozen of women acquaintances who have told me about their personal stories of sexual assault or even rape. I don't believe any of them went to the police or even to any kind of authority, but simply kept it all to themselves. Given the cultural and institutional climate here regarding these things, I would in no way blame them. I probably would've acted the same way myself.

Frivolous at best, and most cases is between known parties that starts as consensual but then turns to reported rape when the outcome is not what was expected i.e long term relationship or getting back together was just a quick love hotel trip. The crime is very low in Japan. Besides kids today are too busy with phones and not interested in sex at all or we wouldn't be having a bigger issue of a dwindling population.

many of the victims did not consider their ordeal serious enough to report or did not know how to deal with it

Other common reasons for not coming forward were embarrassment and distrust of police

Clearly a serious culture change needs to take place. A victim of a crime as serious as this should never feel embarrassed, that they can't talk to anyone, or that what happened to them isn't serious.

Also that ridiculous part of the law about sexual assaults that only validate it once the victim has proven that they did everything in their power and took possible courses of actions in order to prevent it. That's just ridiculous and too many people exploit loopholes and the system leaves these victims feeling lost.

Keeping the crime statistics low.

Because the definition of sex crime in Japan is very vague