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Japan raises age of consent from 13 to 16 years old

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A Japanese national flag waves at a port in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Japan on Jan. 19, 2023. Franck Robichon, EPA-EFE/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/overseas/06/16/20230616-japan-flag-epa.jpg"/><figcaption>A Japanese national flag waves at a port in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Japan on Jan. 19, 2023. <em>Franck Robichon, EPA-EFE/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>TOKYO — Japan&#x27;s age of consent was raised from 13, among the world&#x27;s lowest, to 16 years old on Friday as lawmakers passed key reforms to sex crime legislation.</p><p>A new bill, which also clarifies rape prosecution requirements and criminalizes voyeurism, cleared parliament&#x27;s upper house in a unanimous vote.</p><p>The age of consent -- below which sexual activity is considered statutory rape -- is 16 in Britain, 15 in France, and 14 in Germany and China.</p><p>Japan&#x27;s had been unchanged since 1907, with children aged 13 and above deemed capable of consent.</p><p>In practice, across many parts of the country, regional ordinances banning &quot;lewd&quot; acts with minors are sometimes seen as effectively raising the age of consent to 18.</p><p>Under the new law, teen couples no more than five years apart in age will be exempt from prosecution if both partners are over 13.</p><p>Japan last revised its criminal code on sexual offenses in 2017, for the first time in more than a century, but campaigners said the reforms were insufficient.</p><p>And in 2019, a string of acquittals in rape cases triggered nationwide rallies.</p><p>Under the previous law, prosecutors had to prove victims were incapacitated due to violence and intimidation.</p><p>Critics argued that the requirement effectively blamed victims for not resisting enough.</p><p>The bill that passed Friday contains a list of examples under which rape prosecutions can be made.</p><p>These include victims being under the influence of alcohol or drugs, being frightened, and perpetrators taking advantage of social status.</p><p>A justice ministry official told AFP earlier this year that the clarifications were not &quot;meant to make it easier or harder&quot; to secure rape convictions, but &quot;will hopefully make court verdicts more consistent&quot;.</p><p>The bill also contains a new &quot;visitation request offense,&quot; according to the justice ministry.</p><p>It means that people who use intimidation, seduction, or money to coerce children under 16 to meet for sexual purposes will face a prison sentence of up to a year or a fine of 500,000 yen ($3,500).</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/23/22/philippines-declares-war-on-online-child-sex-abuse">Philippines declares war on online child sexual abuse</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/07/22/new-law-raises-age-of-sexual-consent">New law raises age of sexual consent to 16</a></li></ul><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ttum4E70jAw?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Japan's age of consent was raised from 13, among the world's lowest, to 16 years old as lawmakers passed key reforms to sex crime legislation.