2021-06-09, 20:02 | Link #21 |
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
|
^ The predictable response.
I stand by what I said. The DOJ did a study, basing it presumably on official rape and sex crime statistics, and then correlated it with the volume of pornographic content, and came to the conclusion there is no link. But, you then have at least one study by a native Japanese scholar who claims, not unreasonably, that official data on rape and sex crime in Japan may not be reliable, and there is a good chance that many cases are going unreported. So, the first thing to note is that it's reasonable to be sceptical about the DOJ's conclusion. Do we really know for sure that their conclusion is sound? I don't mean by that the DOJ study was outright wrong. Rather, I would urge caution in making such a sweeping conclusion, and wonder if there are more factors at play that led to the apparent results. Correlation is not causation and I'm well aware that there are a whole slew of other possibilities to consider. Neither do I believe that more porn means more violent sex crimes because, well, the data, however limited, doesn't bear it out. But at a time when many people are calling out the woeful normalisation of sexual harassment and racist language and behaviour, I do think it's hypocritical to not also think about how pornography normalises the way people think about sex and sexual relationships, especially in places where formal sexual education is poor or lacking. And I also think such a discussion is relevant in the context of this thread, which asks whether the portrayal of rape in anime and manga reflects the reality of everyday Japanese, hence the reason I brought it up. |
2021-06-09, 21:58 | Link #22 | |
Moving in circles
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 49
|
Anyway, back to the other stories that I'd found.
I had wondered earlier about what exactly was changed in 2017, in the legal definition of rape in Japan. And this is interesting: Some rape victims not covered by Japanese law that disregards gender diversity Quote:
So, I was wrong about Japanese law on this point, and in fact the penal code reform in 2017 was quite progressive and long overdue. It expanded the range of violent behaviours that can be legally defined as rape. And that therefore increases the chance of prosecution and, hopefully, conviction. I'm not so sure, though, about whether the definition of rape should be further expanded, as per what some victims and groups are calling for. Ms Usami said, in the article, that she "came to strongly feel that the current legal system, which does not recognise damage caused by anything other than male genitalia as rape, does not envision the diversity of sexuality and covers up the reality of damage caused by LGBTQ perpetrators". That aside, this is another story that reinforces the view that rape and sex crimes are more prevalent in Japan than official numbers seem to suggest. More helpfully, it explains what changed in 2017 that led to the apparent increase in rape and sex-crime numbers. It's not that there were suddenly more rapists and sex offenders, but rather that the system was changed, and more victims finally felt safe enough to report the crime. |
|
|
|