Japan OKs Bill to Clarify Illegality of Nonconsensual Sex

Tokyo, March 14 (Jiji Press)--The Japanese government on Tuesday adopted at a cabinet meeting a bill to revise the Penal Code to clarify the criteria for establishing the crime of nonconsensual intercourse and other sex offenses.

The bill calls for unifying the crimes of forcible and quasi-forcible sexual intercourse into the crime of nonconsensual intercourse, listing eight specific punishable acts and situations that would make it difficult for the victims to express their "will not to give consent."

The current Penal Code stipulates the use of "violence or intimidation" as requirements for establishing the crime of forcible sexual intercourse. These requirements have been legally interpreted as acts that make it extremely difficult for victims to resist.

Critics have argued that this stipulation is not enough to ensure consistent court decisions, referring to cases in which how much the victims resisted was contested in trials.

In addition to the use of violence or intimidation, the bill seeks to stipulate that acts such as making victims drink alcohol or take drugs and scaring or shocking them to have intercourse are also subject to punishment.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]