Record Number of Child Abuse Cases in Japan in 2024

Number of Cases Rising

Japan’s National Police Agency recently announced that police across the country handled 2,649 cases of child abuse in 2024. This was a year-on-year increase of 264 cases, for an 11.1% climb in the figure. The number of cases has more than tripled from the total of 822 marked in 2015.

Of the total cases, 1,029 were for injury, 984 for assault, 228 for indecent assault, and 162 for rape. There were 32 cases of murder and 38 of attempted murder. The perpetrator was the father in 46.0% of cases and the mother in 26.2%.

The number of victims in cases handled by the police rose by 285 (11.8%) to 2,700, which is a new record. A total of 52 children died, up 24 year on year, of which 24 were victims in murder/suicide incidents.

Notifications from Child Guidance Centers

Child guidance centers submitted 122,378 notifications to police in 2024. While this was a slight decrease from the previous year, the total remained above 120,000.

The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare reports that child guidance centers handled 225,509 consultations in fiscal 2023. This was an increase of 5.0% (10,666), for a new record. Of these, 59.8% (134,948) were for psychological abuse, 22.9% (51,623) for physical abuse, 16.2% (36,465) for neglect, and 1.1% (2,473) for sexual abuse. The perpetrator was the mother in 48.3% of cases, the father in 42.3% of cases, and another male relative in 5.1% of cases.

Data Sources

• Report on stalking, domestic violence, and child abuse (Japanese) from the National Police Agency.

(Translated from Japanese. © Pixta.)