Domestic Violence

Not many people are aware of the domestic violence on women still happens as vast in Japan.

Domestic violence has been pervasive in Japan for so long that it is considered a normal part of marriage. Abuse was only talked about publicly in 1998. A natonal survey conducted in February 2000 by the Prime Minister's Office foudn that 1 our of 20 women (1/20) are 'subjected to life-threatening violence'. Many of the victims are housewives who are unable or unwilling to seek assistance. Japan offers only about 40 shelters for battered women.

Wives murdered by their husbands consitute approximately 30% of all murders committed in the country. In the year 2000, cases of injury resulting in death, in which a 'husband kills his wife as a result of continuous hitting and kicking', received a senstence of only six to eight years imprisonment. A new law enacted in 2001 is designed to help protect victims, but enforcement is difficult since only 1-10% of women report abuse.

~ Deborah Meroff, True Grit, women taking on the world, for God's sake.pg.52


Reference:
1. Ikeuchi, Hiromi, 'Japanese Women Now', 'Women's Online Media'
2. Nobuhiro Suzuki, 'Socio-Cultural Background of Domestic Violence in Japan', Project Blue Sky, National Commission for Women Report, Asian Age, 9th March 2000.


Prayer :
There are needs in area of women ministries. Please take notes! And the domestic violence as of today not only comes from the husband, but as well as their children.

"Whether you are a cosmopolitan woman in Sao Paulo, Brazil or Japan, or a rural woman in Ethiopia or Peru, the association between violence and poor health remains," Claudia Garcia-Moreno told reporters.