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More than 40 percent of young Japanese today do not fully grasp the implications of sexual consent, according to a survey by a nongovernmental organization.

Paying homage to International Girls’ Day, established by the United Nations to promote girls’ rights and which falls Oct. 11, the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP) released the results of its latest survey on sex and love. It carries out the survey every other year.

The results highlighted a lack of adequate understanding regarding sexual consent, which means people cannot lawfully engage in sexual activity unless the partner agrees.

Sexual consent is stipulated in the revised Criminal Law that took effect in July.

Previously, forcible sexual intercourse was not considered a crime unless the perpetrator physically assaulted the other person or resorted to threatening behavior.

This was revised to non-consensual sexual intercourse, which places more emphasis on the victim’s intention rather than focusing on the issue of force.

The revised law also raised the age of consent from 13, among the world’s lowest, to 16 years old.

Considering these changes, JOICFP included several questions related to sexual consent in this year’s online survey in August.

It received responses from 5,800 people between the ages of 15 to 29 who have had a boyfriend, girlfriend or partner: 3,156 women, 2,350 men and 294 people who do not identify as either gender.

When asked if they believe consent is vital before engaging in sexual activity, an overwhelming 90.1 percent agreed.

However, 41.5 percent of all respondents answered “yes” to the question, “I think I have sexual consent, but I’m not sure if that’s truly the case.”

When asked if they genuinely understood what sexual consent means, 45.3 percent of men answered “no,” and 39.8 percent of both women and non-binary individuals said “no.”

There were differences in responses to a question about having engaged in sexual intercourse despite not really wanting to. While 28.6 percent of men said they have had such experiences, the numbers were higher for non-binary individuals at 38.4 percent and women at 46.1 percent.

When the same question was compared by marital status, 56.8 percent of married people said they have such experiences, compared to 33.3 percent of unmarried people.

“Obtaining sexual consent is very important to protect the dignity of the partner, but there are not enough opportunities to learn about it at school or at home,” said Michiyo Ono, deputy secretary-general of JOICFP.

She said there is a deep-rooted belief in Japan that “once you are married, you are obliged to engage in sexual intercourse.”

Ono stressed that when a partner expresses a desire to have sex, one should not feel pressure to agree just out of a fear of annoying the other person. “Everyone has the right to voice their feelings,” she said.

“Silence or evasive laughing is not consent. It is important to clearly tell each other ‘yes’ or ‘no,’” she said.

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