Maat (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} seshat_maat) wrote,@ 2009-09-02 22:32:00 |
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I have to wonder if this is intentional irony, but this being Japan Times, I kind of doubt it. We have an article about the first rape trial with lay judges (Japanese version of jurors; this is a very new thing for the Japanese legal system). Japan is crap on rape(1); I know this very well, and most people I talk to about it reply to me in tones that suggest I really should be over it by now. But when a rapist admits to a rape (or several rapes, as the case may be), it's time to stop calling the victims alleged victims.
Then, they end the article with this lovely quote:
"'They are despicable crimes that ignore the humanity of women. We call for attention to how deeply the victims were traumatized,' the prosecution said in a statement addressed chiefly to the lay judges, while refraining from reading out the details of the incidents and asking the judges to view written materials instead in light of the victims' privacy."
Earlier, the article notes that the trial will not use names for the women, calling them only Victim A and Victim B.
I get that with the current level about cultural fucked-up-ness about rape, these women probably want their names out of the paper. But the level of irony in quoting the prosecutor saying that the rapist ignored the humanity of these women when the article about it is doing exactly that is staggering.
I love Japan. I really do. Sometimes it's just harder to remind myself of that.
1) The text of the Japanese law on rape: word-search Article 176 to get the relevant sections. The most important parts are that
a) only women can be raped; for men you only have "forcible indecency", which is a much lower minimum penalty (6 months vs. 3 years), and Japanese rapists almost always receive minimum penalties
b) actual rape only applies to use of intimidation or physical force, while drugging or other ways of taking advantage of or "causing a loss of consciousness or inability to resist" are only "quasi-rape", though they do share the same penalty
c) rapes can only be prosecuted upon complaint. Needless to say, the Japanese police do not make it easy to complain.
Then, they end the article with this lovely quote:
"'They are despicable crimes that ignore the humanity of women. We call for attention to how deeply the victims were traumatized,' the prosecution said in a statement addressed chiefly to the lay judges, while refraining from reading out the details of the incidents and asking the judges to view written materials instead in light of the victims' privacy."
Earlier, the article notes that the trial will not use names for the women, calling them only Victim A and Victim B.
I get that with the current level about cultural fucked-up-ness about rape, these women probably want their names out of the paper. But the level of irony in quoting the prosecutor saying that the rapist ignored the humanity of these women when the article about it is doing exactly that is staggering.
I love Japan. I really do. Sometimes it's just harder to remind myself of that.
1) The text of the Japanese law on rape: word-search Article 176 to get the relevant sections. The most important parts are that
a) only women can be raped; for men you only have "forcible indecency", which is a much lower minimum penalty (6 months vs. 3 years), and Japanese rapists almost always receive minimum penalties
b) actual rape only applies to use of intimidation or physical force, while drugging or other ways of taking advantage of or "causing a loss of consciousness or inability to resist" are only "quasi-rape", though they do share the same penalty
c) rapes can only be prosecuted upon complaint. Needless to say, the Japanese police do not make it easy to complain.
