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.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
RSS