May 31, 2023

The House of Representatives on May 30 at its plenary meeting unanimously passed a bill to make nonconsensual sexual acts punishable by revising the law on sex crimes.

The bill will punish sex offenses committed in situations where the victims are unable to express refusal to have sex due to the perpetrators’ use of violence, intimidation, alcohol, drugs, and/or social and economic status.

Under the bill, the minimum age of sexual consent will be raised to 16 from the current 13, and sexual activities with minors below 16 will be subject to criminal punishment. In addition, the bill will create a criminal offense for “child grooming”, an act of establishing a close relationship with children for the purpose of sexual abuse. The bill will also criminalize acts of secretly photographing or filming people for sexual gratification.

The Japanese Communist Party supported the bill on the grounds that it will punish nonconsensual sexual acts, and called for further improvements in the bill.

In discussions at the Lower House Judicial Committee, JCP representative Motomura Nobuko proposed the JCP’s amendments to the bill. The JCP demanded that the revised law be improved within three years after its enforcement by such means as introducing the so-called “yes means yes” provision in sex abuse cases.