Record Number of Domestic Violence in Japan

Record Number of Domestic Violence in Japan
Picture By: Nadine Shaabana, via Unsplash, 2019

03-03-2022 

Malina Wiethaus

Japan and Human Rights Researcher 

Global Human Rights Defence 

In 2021, the Japanese police recorded over 83 000 domestic violence consultation requests. This marks a worrying record, which can be led back to the Covid 19 pandemic. Due to the pandemic many people stayed at home, making these numbers the highest recorded in the last two decades (Kyodo, 2022). 

The Japanese National Police Agency (NPA) released data that also showed that most alleged victims were women. Around 75% of the domestic violence victims were female, even though the trend suggests an increase in male victims. Furthermore, the NPA recorded over 19 700 consultation requests regarding stalking in 2021. While this number is 461 requests lower than the previous year, the decline is yet less than expected. In August 2021, a new law banning the misuse of GPS to monitor people was put in force (Kyodo, 2022). 

Most of the suspected stalking victims were women as well. Respectively, females made up 87.6% of the victims. Many were in their 20s. More than one third of the reported victims were or had been dating their perpetrators. Of these stalking cases, 1 581 are investigated by the police due to the violation of special and criminal laws (Kyodo, 2022). 

NGOs, such as the Japan Women’s Shelter Network offered trainings to cultivate assitance wokrers for female victims of domestic and sexual abuse. These programs will launch in July, 2022. Included within the training will be the filing of protection orders, divorce settlement procedures, and more general knowledge on national laws protecting women (Jiji, 2022).  

Sources and further readings: 

Jiji. (2022, February 20). Japan group to train workers for domestic violence victims. The 

Japan Times. Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/02/20/national/social-issues/domestic-violence/

Kyodo. (2022, March 3). Japan sees record number of domestic violence consultations amid 

pandemic. The Japan Times. Retrieved March 3, 2022, from 

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/03/03/national/crime-legal/domestic-violenc

e-2021/