Hundreds of people took to the streets all over Japan to protest against recent court acquittals of alleged rapists, including a man who was found not guilty of raping his own daughter.
In March, a court in the central city of Nagoya acquitted the man of raping his daughter, 19, despite years of sexual abuse.
The court recognised that the woman had sex with her father against her will in August and September of 2017 but ruled she could have resisted if she wanted to.
Despite the acquittal, the court also recognised that the girl had been sexually abused her father since the second year of junior high, when she would have been 13 or 14 years old.
Protesters gather at the rally called 'Flower Demo' to criticize recent acquittals in court cases of alleged rape in Japan
Holding flowers and placards with slogans such as '#MeToo, #WithYou', sexual abuse survivors recounted their experiences at the rally
Prosecutors argued that repeated violence and threats leveled against the daughter meant she was unable to resist her father.
The defence claimed, meanwhile, that the sex was consensual because the daughter hadn't resisted.
The judge said: 'Because of the many years of sexual abuse [and other abuse], she was mentally under the control of her father.'
However, he later added that the daughter wasn't completely under her father's control.
The judge ruled: 'Therefore, there is a reasonable doubt as to whether she was really unable to resist.'
The father was able to go free.
This case was one of several that prompted the protests in Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka and Kagoshima.
Holding flowers and placards with slogans such as '#MeToo, #WithYou', sexual abuse survivors on Tuesday evening recounted their experiences.
They were protesting against several rape acquittals, including a case where a father was cleared of raping his daughter
The father was cleared of the rape, despite the court admitting that the sex was against his daughter's will
They said they did this because they want to scrap a rule they say puts too high a burden on rape victims, discouraging them from coming forward and hurting their legal chances if they do.
'If we keep saying 'No' to sexual violence and deliver our voices, I have hope this unreasonable law will surely be changed,' Misa Iwata, who said she was gang raped at 16, told a crowd of hundreds gathered near Tokyo Station.
'To raise one's voice is frightening,' added Iwata, a member of sexual abuse victims group Spring. 'But by raising our voices, society and politics will surely change.'
Legislators revised Japan's century-old rape law in 2017 to include harsher penalties, among other changes.
The reforms, however, left intact controversial requirements for prosecutors to prove that violence or intimidation was involved or that the victim was 'incapable of resistance'.
Legislators revised Japan's century-old rape law in 2017 to include harsher penalties, among other changes - however protesters say they didn't go far enough
There were protests in Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka and Kagoshima
Speaking about the case of the father being acquitted of raping his daughter, Miku Yokoyama, 23, said: 'This kind of case is continuing because most people don't have the sense that the judgments are wrong.
'We are here today to make a movement to change that.'
Organisers began holding the monthly protests in April.
'The voices of those saying ''We cannot keep silent' are spreading,'' media quoted author and activist Minori Kitahara as telling a crowd in Fukuoka, where another non-guilty verdict was handed down in March.
Other court rulings the demonstrators have protested against include a case in which a man, charged with raping a woman after she passed out from drinking, was found not guilty on March 12.
His acquittal was made on the grounds he 'misunderstood' that she had consented to having sex with him.
ezoe on June 14th, 2019 at 08:58 UTC »
This article is missing the details. This is purely the fault of police and prosecutors.
Some of the proofs(heresay of confession from the father written down by police and prosecutor) were invalidated because it contains the wordings that doesn't exist in the recorded video footage of interrogation. Or the proof(also heresay of confession) claimed the father confirmed the question but the corresponding video footage shows prosecutors asking the question and the father say nothing.
Considering the huge amount of invalid proofs that is just a heresay of confession during the interrogation submitted by prosecutors which, in reality, didn't happen, proofed by video footage, The judge ruled in favour of the suspect by following the basic rule of in dubio pro reo.
The news media and these protesters blame the judge, but they must rather blame the police and prosecutors.
Also, the prosecutors choose the generic rape crime rater than more specific parental abuse crime which is easily provable in this case. They did it because they want a court case that generic rape crime can be applied in this case. They choose the wrong crime. Consider you stole an apple but you are to be charged as bread theft. You are innocent because you don't steal the bread. That how the justice system shall be. He was charged with wrong crime.
While doing so, they did stupid mistakes as usual by faking the heresay confessions(they do it almost every time so they do it so casually without thinking).
Now the new law was made that require to record the interrogation. Police/prosecutors made up fake confessions as usual, then they fucked up. That also favour the suspect.
No matter how morally unforgivable this father is, he shall not be guilty under such a fucked up trials.
For people who blamed the judge for not agreeing that the daughter couldn't resist(in Japanese, 心理的抗拒不能), that's because existing cases make it so hard to proof that. It can be granted for a case like the cult leader brainwash the follower. A complete irresistible state and mind. That's really hard to proof.
That's why there are different, a more easy to prove law which make parental abuse a crime. The prosecutors must have applied that law rather than generic rape law.
tassle7 on June 14th, 2019 at 08:14 UTC »
This was a young girl. A child. Are there really commenters bringing up “false rape” charges and making jokes about consent. Even ignoring any sort of rape consent debate ambiguity...she was a CHILD and he is her DAD.
phiwong on June 14th, 2019 at 06:41 UTC »
"Your honor, I cannot be guilty of murder. If they ducked behind the wall quicker, the bullets wouldn't have hit them"
"Your honor, I cannot be guilty of reckless driving. If the other drivers got out of the way, they wouldn't have been hit"
"Your honor. When I stabbed him with a knife, if he wore a steel plate vest, he never would have been injured"
"Your honor, if they reinforced their doors a bit better, I could not have broken in and stolen their stuff. I cannot be guilty of theft"
Yup. This sounds like a judge gone senile.