In societies where women are oppressed, women are treated exclusively as sexual beings and forced to engage in non-consensual sexual acts. Men are taught that it is okay to assault women sexually, their sexual conquest of women is celebrated by their male peers, and there is a widespread belief that the victim is at fault. The damage is hidden as shame, not talked about, nor understood.

  To change this situation, feminism and other movements have pointed out and corrected myths and prejudices surrounding sexual violence, developed research that shows the depth and impact of sexual violence, including trauma, and given a name, “sexual harassment,” to sexual violence that takes advantage of a position or status. They have argued that this is a problem of “rape culture” which covers society and have called for a shift from a “No means Yes” framework to a society that holds perpetrators accountable.

  In Japan, many people have been working on this issue and changing the situation, including the first significant revision in 110 years of the criminal code’s sexual offense provisions in 2017. The ensuing #MeToo and flower protests have led to even more substantial changes in the situation, and new policies are being issued. We talked in this symposium about how sexual violence occurs, how sexual violence has been reported and talked about, and how the “sexual crime” regulations that hold perpetrators accountable will be further discussed and amended.