WORLD NEWS JUNE 9, 2019 / 8:46 PM / UPDATED 14 MINUTES AGO

Outrage at acquittals in rape cases sparks calls to fix Japanese law

Linda Sieg
7 MIN READ

TOKYO (Reuters) - Miyako Shirakawa was a 19-year-old college student when she was raped by an older man. She said that when the attack started, her mind went blank and she froze up.

“When I became aware, he was on top of me,” said Shirakawa, 54, now a psychiatrist who treats sexual abuse victims.

That type of response “is a common, instinctive reaction - it’s a form of psychological self-protection,” added Shirakawa, who became pregnant because of the rape, which she didn’t report to police, and had an abortion.

But under Japanese law, not fighting back can make it impossible for prosecutors to prove rape.

Legislators revised Japan’s century-old rape law in 2017 to include harsher penalties and other changes. The reforms, however, left intact controversial requirements that prosecutors must prove that violence or intimidation was involved or that the victim was “incapable of resistance.”

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