Protests in Japan after father acquitted of rape

Women’s rights protesters are taking to the streets for the sixth time in as many months as anger mounts in Japan over “outdated” rape laws, after a man was allowed to walk free despite sexually assaulting his daughter for years.

A court ruled the father had sexually abused his child from around the age 13 to 19 and even acknowledged he was violent when she resisted.

Yet he was acquitted because the law requires prosecutors to prove there was overwhelming force, a threat, or that the victim was completely incapacitated.

The verdict is being appealed but it has sparked outrage, with hundreds expected to again demonstrate in cities across the nation on Wednesday.

An online petition demanding that any sex without consent be defined as rape – signed by more than 47,000 people – has been submitted to the justice ministry.

For Jun Yamamoto, who was abused by her father between the ages of 13 and 20, the story is sickeningly familiar.

“Again! That was what I thought,” the 45-year-old said, adding: “Japanese justice does not recognise sexual offences like this as a crime. I cannot tolerate it anymore.”

The court acknowledged in the latest incest case that the girl had been forced to have intercourse “against her will” and was psychologically subjugated by her father because of the repeated abuse.

But it said it was unclear whether she was “incapable of resisting”, so her father was acquitted of rape.

Yamamoto, a nurse who also works for the rights of sexual abuse victims, is demanding reforms to the Japanese criminal code.

“When caught off guard or attacked by somebody who should be someone you can trust, you freeze in shock and cannot fight back.

“Even in a case where a father raped his daughter, the court says she could have resisted and lets him go. This legal situation is really a serious problem,” she said, her voice quivering with barely suppressed anger.

While the global #MeToo movement against sexual abuse has stormed through everything from Hollywood to the Italian opera, it has struggled to take off in Japan.

But calls to protect sex abuse victims seem to be winning support, with hundreds expected to rally holding symbolic flowers in 20 cities nationwide.

In one past “Flower Demo” in Tokyo, advocates held banners reading: “Law MUST protect victims, NOT perpetrators”.

“Why do we have to ask for this over and over again?” said a tearful protester on mic.

“Are we asking for something so inconceivable?”

Activists and lawyers say that Japan’s criminal code, which dates back over a century, is incapable of protecting sexual abuse victims.

Many activists see the law as part of a broader gender problem in Japan which, despite relatively high rates of female education and workplace participation, remains unequal in many ways.

Lawyer Yukiko Tsunoda said that sexist norms remained embedded in the legal system and systematically undermined women’s rights.

Japanese justice does not recognise sexual offences like this as a crime