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1)Sexual crime
| (i) | Legislation and measures |
| As for infringements of women's sexual freedom, penal provisions, such as indecent assault (Article 176 of the Penal Code: imprisonment with labor of not less than six months and not exceeding seven years), rape (Article 177 of the Penal Code: imprisonment with labor of not less than two years), and rape resulting in injury (Article 181 of the Penal Code: imprisonment with labor for life or of not less than three years) are prescribed and have been appropriately enforced. |
| (ii) | Current situation regarding rape and indecent assault |
| The number of reported cases of rape in 1996 declined to 1,483, one-fourth of the 6,393 cases reported in 1967. This transition indicated a continued downward trend from 1967 to 1990, and stabilized to more or less 1,500 from 1990 onward. The number of reported cases of indecent assault in 1996 was 4,025, indicating an increase of 20 percent in comparison with 3,416 cases in 1967. This transition indicated that the downward trend continued until 1986, and the subsequent upward trend started from 1987. 1996 resulted in an increase of 10 percent in comparison with the previous year. |
| (iii) | Appropriate measures to deal with victims of sexual crime |
| In order to eradicate all forms of violence against women, the enforcement of thorough control over sexual crimes such as rape and indecent assault has been propelled with strict application of the penal code concerned. |
| As a sexual crime is a crime that inflicts substantial psychological trauma on the victim as well as physical damage, there exists a propensity for the victim to hesitate reporting the crime to the police due to the sense of shame, which can give rise to latent damages. |
| Thus, since 1996, in order to promote more pertinent and more effective investigations into sexual crime besides striving to alleviate the mental burden of the victim using appropriate measures in consideration of the victim's position, "instructors on sexual-crimes investigation methods" and a "sexual-crimes investigation unit" were set up at the headquarters of each prefectural police force. Measures were also taken to alleviate the victim's mental burden such as investigation interviews, identification activities, and attendance to a hospital by a policewoman and improvement of the counseling system by expert officers. Furthermore, even at the trial stage, public prosecutors undertake to protect victimized women by means of making objections to inappropriate questions, while creating an environment to facilitate the victimized women's testimonies by requesting the court to suspend the public trial and to order designated spectators and defendants to leave the courtroom. |
| (iv) | Measures to prevent damages from being kept latent |
| Support for the victimized women has been taken by providing appropriate information such as the delivery of brochures giving explanations of criminal procedure and various relief systems in plain terms, pertinent intimation of the investigation process and proceeding situation of the suspect and also by responding accurately to inquiries from the victim, while providing a consultant for the sexual crime such as an "the Sex Crime Hotlines" installed in each prefectural police force. When the civil liberties organs of the Ministry of Justice obtain the information, through human rights consultation service or from the woman victim herself that suffered a violent act, these organs investigate the case and, in case they recognize the fact of the infringement of her rights, they give special education to the perpetrator about the respect of human rights, while making him discontinue such act of violence and preventing its recurrence in an effort to protect the victim. |
| Among all other steps to promote relief measures, there has been introduced, since July 1996, a new system called "System of Commissioners for Human Rights Mediation" as a means of practical relief of those victims whose rights have been infringed upon. |
2) Sexual Harassment
As for acts of sexual harassment that are regarded as a violation of women's sexual freedom, penal provisions for sexual violence against women as mentioned above have been appropriately enforced. As for other forms of sexual harassment, it is possible to apply penal provisions, such as battery (Article 208 of the Penal Code: imprisonment with labor of not more than 2 years or a fine of not more than ¥300,000 or penal detention or a minor fine), intimidation (Article 222 of the Penal Code: imprisonment with labor of not more than 2 years or a fine of not more than ¥300,000), compulsion (Article 223 of the Penal Code: imprisonment with labor of not more than 3 years), defamation (Item 1 of Article 230 of the Penal Code: imprisonment with or without labor of not more than 3 years or a fine of not more than ¥500,000) and insult (Article 231 of the Penal Code: penal detention or a minor fine) in accordance with the type of each case, and these penal provisions have been appropriately enforced.
When the police are consulted on sexual harassment through their counselor for sexual crime, etc., they proceed to an arrest of the assailant who turns out to have violated the criminal code by taking an accurate application of these penal provisions concerned. And even in otherwise cases, efforts to respond to the victim's needs are made, such as introducing the authority or organization concerned with the purpose of supporting victims, etc. according to her requirements.
In addition, the civil liberties organs of the Ministry of Justice are endeavoring to raise people's consciousness that sexual harassment is an infringement of human rights and propel measures on this problem through human rights consultation service or investigation and settlement of the cases involving infringements of human rights.
In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of sexual harassment even in educational organizations. And while there is an increasing number of universities furnishing themselves with guidelines and counselors, private organizations are forming networks to tackle these issues through information exchange and preventive measures.
Sexual harassment in the workplace is taken up in Article 11.
3) Respect for human rights in the media
| (i) | Legislation on sexual or violent expression |
| As to sexual or violent expression, it is possible to apply the prefectural ordinances concerning the protection and fostering of young persons (so-called Youth Protection Ordinance) beside provisions for crimes of public indecency (Article 174 of the Penal Code: imprisonment with labor of not more than 6 months or a fine of not more than ¥300,000 or penal detention or a minor fine, and distribution of obscene material (Article 175 of the Penal Code: imprisonment with labor of not more than 2 years or a fine of not more than ¥2,500,000 or a minor fine) according to the type of each case, and these penal provisions have been appropriately enforced. |
| (ii) | Current situation regarding the control of publications with expression of sexual violence |
| Cases charged with distribution of obscene material in the last 5 years are as shown in Statistical Annex No. 44, indicating a transition of more or less the same level in recent years. |
| With regard to the charge for the distribution of obscene material, the criminal offense of selling obscene videotapes has constituted a major part of the cases. However, new forms of criminal offenses such as transmitting obscene images to an unspecified number of people in the general public using communications services for personal computers and the Internet and sales of CD-ROMs, etc. on which obscene images are recorded are increasing. |
| The situation regarding the cases charged with the distribution of obscene material using a computer network such as the Internet in the last 4 years is shown in Statistical Annex 45. |
| (iii) | Protection of juveniles |
| Since images portraying sex and violence may have a bad influence on the sound nurturing of juveniles, books and videos that include images of sex and violence are designated as "Harmful Books" by the Youth Protection Ordinance which is enacted in 46 prefectures all over Japan, and under which provision for punishment for the sales of the books is included. The Government is clamping down on unscrupulous traders of books designated as harmful, while working to promote self-principled measures to be taken by the concerned industry by requesting them to distinctly classify the books in collaboration with the organizations concerned and local residents. Also, the Government is conducting investigation studies on the actual situation as well as on how this issue is addressed in other countries so as to contribute to the further promotion of these measures. |
| (iv) | Child pornography |
| As for regulation on child pornography, strict law enforcement has been executed on illegal cases, taking into account that becoming the subjects of the photography may have a harmful influence on the subsequent sound nurturing of the girls, and also is the violation of their human rights. |
| (v) | Measures by the Media |
| "Conference on Multi-channel-Age Audience and Broadcasters", as to the influences that television broadcasting might have on minors and the consequent countermeasures to be taken, reported that the function which automatically controls the audience on a temporary basis(Parental-Lock Function) would be beneficial. |
| In satellite digital broadcasting, which commenced in June 1996, the service of the parental-lock function was voluntarily introduced, and 8 companies started to provide the service. |
| In addition to this, a study was made on how the policy for viewers should be in 1998, and further consideration is being given to the measures for the policy on viewers. In satellite digital broadcasting, business entities who broadcast adult programs containing images of sex and violence voluntarily formulated guidelines for their ethical rules, and established the "Ethical Committee for Communication Satellite Programs" in September 1996 with a view to abiding by the provisions and standards stipulated. |
| Also, with regard to the distribution of information on the Internet, a study group from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued a report entitled "Rules of information distribution on the Internet" in December 1997. The report stated what the rules should be for the distribution of illegal and harmful information on the Internet through such ways as applying existing laws and voluntary measures taken by providers. |
| As for measures taken by private organizations, on February 16, 1998, the Telecom Service Association, an organization of communications business entities including Internet providers, issued a "Guideline for Codes of Practice for Internet Service Providers" with the support of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, following various consideration in the form of voluntary regulations or guidelines. |
| Furthermore, as for the movies, the Film Ethics Regulatory Committee (organization for self-imposed control established by the Japanese movie industry in 1956 which is run by the third party), with the objectives of strictly controlling the supply of movies which may be detrimental to people's sense of ethics, examines and makes judgments in accordance with the Film Ethics Regulations formulated in August 1959, and revised in May 1994, and May 1998 respectively. For those movies that are not suitable for minors, (under 18 years of age) designation, depending on the level, for limited entrance is implemented in such ways as "PG-12" (accompany by guardian desirable for under 12 years of age), "R-15" (no-entry for under 15 years of age), "R-18" (no-entry for under 18 years of age). |
| 4) | Regulations on adult entertainment businesses
(implemented after the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses was amended) |
The Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses requires all adult amusement and entertainment businesses, including the so-called private-room video shops and adult entertainment shops, to report the outset of business to the authorities, and to observe the rules concerning youth protection, where those businesses are prohibited from employing minors and are required not to allow children to use their service or even enter such shops. It is ruled that those who violate the Law are subject to punitive measures including the suspension of the business license.
Also, the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses was partially amended in April 1998, to add new regulations on cyberspace businesses that provide sexually stimulative visual images including obscene acts and nudity over the Internet or computer networks (by which the businesses must not allow teenagers under 18 years of age to use their service, and are also prohibited from conducting certain styles of advertising activities on the street).
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