A ruling Japanese lawmaker was forced to apologize yesterday after sparking outrage by saying perpetrators of gang rape were "vigorous" and "close to normal."
Seiichi Ota, a Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmaker and former Cabinet minister, made the remarks during a debate among politicians on Japan's declining birth rate on Thursday.
"Gang rape shows the people who do it are still vigorous, and that is OK. I think that might make them close to normal," domestic media quoted Ota as saying in reference to the recent arrest of five university students for alleged gang rape.
Ota quickly came under fire from opposition and ruling party members alike, although experts said his comments reflected a propensity in Japan to treat rapists leniently.
A group representing all female lawmakers of opposition parties demanded in a letter to Ota that he formally apologize to all women, although they stopped short of demanding he resign.
"It must be said that this shows disdain for and is an insult to victimized women and to all women, and cannot possibly be forgiven," the lawmakers said in the letter given to an aide of Ota.
"The comments by Seiichi Ota ... are truly awful, showing too much ignorance of suffering from sexual violence and too much insensibility," Mizuho Fukushima, secretary general of the opposition Social Democratic Party and member of the group, told reporters.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi joined the criticism.
"It is natural that he be criticized. Rape is an unforgiveable, contemptible act. It's different from whether one is vigorous or not," Koizumi told reporters.
The incident came just days after a senior official of Japan's Communist Party resigned after admitting to sexually harassing a woman.
Ota was reprimanded by LDP secretary-general Taku Yamasaki and apologized for his remarks.
"I think the fact that such comments were reported made victims ... and many women feel unpleasant, so I want to reconsider and express my apologies," he said.
Ota said he thought rape was a serious crime and wanted to make efforts so it would be punished more strictly.
Two years in prison is the minimum sentence for rape in Japan and 15 years the maximum, but it is rare for a sentence to be over five years.
Yasuyuki Takai, vice chairman of the Japan Federation of Bar Association's committee on victim support, said he thought Ota's comments showed that Japanese society was too accepting of rape.
In the sweltering streets of Jakarta, buskers carry towering, hollow puppets and pass around a bucket for donations. Now, they fear becoming outlaws. City authorities said they would crack down on use of the sacred ondel-ondel puppets, which can stand as tall as a truck, and they are drafting legislation to remove what they view as a street nuisance. Performances featuring the puppets — originally used by Jakarta’s Betawi people to ward off evil spirits — would be allowed only at set events. The ban could leave many ondel-ondel buskers in Jakarta jobless. “I am confused and anxious. I fear getting raided or even
Eleven people, including a former minister, were arrested in Serbia on Friday over a train station disaster in which 16 people died. The concrete canopy of the newly renovated station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed on Nov. 1, 2024 in a disaster widely blamed on corruption and poor oversight. It sparked a wave of student-led protests and led to the resignation of then-Serbian prime minister Milos Vucevic and the fall of his government. The public prosecutor’s office in Novi Sad opened an investigation into the accident and deaths. In February, the public prosecutor’s office for organized crime opened another probe into
RISING RACISM: A Japanese group called on China to assure safety in the country, while the Chinese embassy in Tokyo urged action against a ‘surge in xenophobia’ A Japanese woman living in China was attacked and injured by a man in a subway station in Suzhou, China, Japanese media said, hours after two Chinese men were seriously injured in violence in Tokyo. The attacks on Thursday raised concern about xenophobic sentiment in China and Japan that have been blamed for assaults in both countries. It was the third attack involving Japanese living in China since last year. In the two previous cases in China, Chinese authorities have insisted they were isolated incidents. Japanese broadcaster NHK did not identify the woman injured in Suzhou by name, but, citing the Japanese
RESTRUCTURE: Myanmar’s military has ended emergency rule and announced plans for elections in December, but critics said the move aims to entrench junta control Myanmar’s military government announced on Thursday that it was ending the state of emergency declared after it seized power in 2021 and would restructure administrative bodies to prepare for the new election at the end of the year. However, the polls planned for an unspecified date in December face serious obstacles, including a civil war raging over most of the country and pledges by opponents of the military rule to derail the election because they believe it can be neither free nor fair. Under the restructuring, Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is giving up two posts, but would stay at the
RSS