JAPAN
The Japan Times
The statute of limitations for child sexual abuse claims could be changed to allow young victims to pursue their perpetrators into adulthood under a proposal being considered by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Currently a 20-year time limit exits for victims seeking compensation through civil litigation, with a seven-year statute of limitations in place for criminal complaints.
An LDP project team is considering whether the starting point under the Civil Code and Penal Code can be modified from when the criminal act took place to when the victim turns 20 years of age, officials said.
At its inaugural meeting last month, the team on the protection of women’s rights, headed by House of Representatives lawmaker Hiroshi Hase, heard from a woman who suffered sexual abuse by a family member during childhood.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, sexual abuse accounted for only 2.1 percent of all requests for advice filed with child consultation offices in Japan in fiscal 2013.
Toko Teramachi, a lawyer who is knowledgeable about the matter, said child victims usually do not understand the meaning of abuse until at least puberty.
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