Photo/Illutration People at a “Flower Demonstration” against sexual violence call for legal revisions to make all forms of non-consensual sex punishable crimes in front of the Justice Ministry’s building in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on March 8. (Hiroki Endo)

Protesters issued fresh calls for legal reforms to make all forms of non-consensual sex punishable crimes at a rally against sexual violence in Tokyo on March 8, International Women’s Day.

Noriko Morisawa, 49, who lives in Kanagawa Prefecture, participated in the rally. Her biological father sexually abused her for several years starting from the age of 14.

“It’s just wrong that assault or intimidation is required to charge offenders with committing non-consensual sex,” said Morisawa. “Any forms of non-consensual sex and sexual acts must be punished.”

The current Criminal Law was revised in 2017 so victims are no longer required to file a complaint in order to charge offenders with committing acts of sexual violence.

But victims and experts have raised concerns over how difficult it is to punish offenders for non-consensual sex. Under the current Criminal Law, “forcible sexual intercourse” and similar offenses are only recognized as such if they are committed through “assault or intimidation.”

Critics are calling for abolishing or easing that requirement and creating a legal provision to recognize non-consensual sex and other similar forms of unwanted sexual acts as punishable crimes. That way, victims will no longer be forced to give up on efforts to punish offenders.

The rally against sexual violence, called a “Flower Demonstration,” started shortly after noon in front of the Justice Ministry’s building in the capital’s Kasumigaseki district.

Protesters held up flowers and signs that read, “Make all forms of non-consensual sex punishable crimes,” and “Create a legal provision to punish offenders for sexual crimes where they leverage their status.”

The protesters are urging the government to adopt Criminal Law revisions that better reflect the reality of sexual violence--calls that come as the ministry’s expert panel reviews and discusses the matter.

“We believe the legal revisions are necessary based on what we’ve heard from victims at Flower Demonstrations over the past two years,” said Minori Kitahara, an author and one of the organizers of the demonstrations, which have been held regularly over the past few years.

The expert panel set up by the ministry has been mulling over revisions to the law since June last year. It held its 13th meeting on March 8.

After considering the panel’s results, the justice minister will have to decide on consulting the Legislative Council, which advises the minister, on whether legal revisions are necessity. But the government has not set a specific deadline for reaching a conclusion on the issue.

The panel shares the view that the current law fails to address actual cases of non-consensual sex.

But some members are cautious about establishing a new provision to make a lack of consent the only requirement to treat such forms of sex as punishable crimes.

Some argue that kind of change could make it difficult to establish guilt in sex crime cases, while others have expressed concerns over a possible drop in the conviction rate.

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