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Japan Mulls Raising Age of Consent From 13 to 16

The proposal is part of a justice ministry effort to overhaul sex laws in Japan.

A panel in Japan’s Ministry of Justice has proposed raising the age of consent in the country from 13 to 16 in a shakeup of the country’s sex offense laws. The overhaul comes after a series of high-profile rape acquittals in 2019 sparked widespread outrage. As well as raising the age of consent, the proposed sex crime changes would make it an offense to secretly film someone for sexual purposes and extend the statute of limitations for rape to 15 years. The panel’s suggestions also include clarifying a controversial part of existing law in which prosecutors currently have to establish that “violence and intimidation” were used by a perpetrator to incapacitate their victim for the crime to be considered rape. The clarification would not change the existing language of the law but would establish that the definition includes using psychological control, intoxication, and drugging.