Japan raises age of consent from 13 to 16 in overhaul of sex crime laws

In February, a justice ministry panel proposed raising the age of consent in Japan as part

File. Protesters hold fowers at the rally called 'Flower Demo' to criticise acquittals in court cases of alleged rape in Japan in 2019 (REUTERS)

Japan has raised the age of sexual consent from 13 to 16 in a major overhaul of the sex crime laws in the country.

On Friday, Japanese lawmakers adopted the legislation which also clarifies rape prosecution requirements and makes upskirting and producing images of genitalia without consent crimes punishable under the new law.

According to Japan Times, the country’s age of consent has remained unchanged since its enactment in 1907 and is one of the lowest among developed nations.

In February this year, a justice ministry panel proposed raising the age of consent in Japan from 13 to 16 as part of a series of reforms to the sex crime laws.

Japan’s age of consent, to date, was the lowest among all G7 countries.

The reforms were spurred after several rape acquittals in 2019 caused massive outrage among the Japanese public which then sought changes to the law.

Earlier, it was reported that there are several regions in the country which have banned “lewd” acts with minors. However, they do not lead to harsh sentences and significantly lighter penalties than rape charges while also terming sex with children “unethical” conduct as opposed to a crime, Kazuna Kanajiri, an activist fighting against pornography and sexual exploitation was quoted as saying by AFP.

Now, under the new law, teenage couples no more than five years apart in age will be exempt from prosecution if both partners are over 13.

Many activists welcomed the new legislation but said that more needed to be done to protect children from becoming victims of sex crimes. “It is still far from the reality of sex crimes and only really scratches the surface. I really hope that the laws will catch up to the reality imminently,” Ikuko Ishida, founder of sexual violence survivors group Be Brave Japan told the Washington Post.

“The very fact that the age of consent was set at 13 created the societal mood that teenagers starting at 13 can be exploited sexually and be viewed sexually,” Hiroko Goto, a law professor and expert on sexual violence at Chiba University told WaPo.

“It has created a culture and mood where everyone assumes that teenagers have the ability to make decisions around sexual consent, and therefore people don’t question their sexual exploitation,” she said.