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Japan raises age of consent from 13 to 16 in reform of sex crimes law

Published on 20 Jun 2023

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Japan raises age of consent from 13 to 16 in reform of sex crimes law
  • Japan has raised the age of consent from 13, among the world’s lowest, to 16 years old as lawmakers passed key reforms to sex crime legislation.
  • A new bill, which also clarifies rape prosecution requirements and criminalises voyeurism, cleared parliament’s upper house in a unanimous vote.
  • 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.
  • In India the age of consent is 18.
  • Japan’s had been unchanged since 1907, with children aged 13 and above deemed capable of consent.
  • 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.
  • Japan last revised its criminal code on sexual offences in 2017, for the first time in more than a century.
  • Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven leading industrialised nations which does not have LGTBQ legal protections.
Source: SarkariPariksha