Japan raises age of consent from 13 to 16 after over a century

 

• Japan’s parliament has raised the age of consent from 13 to 16, a limit which had remained unchanged for more than a century and was among the world’s lowest consent age.
• Lawmakers also broadened the definition of rape from “forcible sexual intercourse” to “non-consensual sexual intercourse”.
• The expanded definition includes acts committed using drugging and intoxication. It also criminalized the grooming of minors.
• Sexual intercourse with someone below age 16 will be considered as rape.

Facts:

• Japan’s sexual consent age had been unchanged since 1907.
• Consent age is defined as the age below which sexual activity is considered as rape.
• Current consent age is 16 in Britain, 15 in France, 14 in Germany and China & 18 in India.
• Japan last revised its criminal code on sexual offenses in 2017.

About Japan:

• Fumio Kishida is the current prime minister of Japan.
• The Japanese National Parliament is called ‘Diet‘.