A nationwide survey was conducted comparing Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English-speaking women in Japan. Variables focused on demographics, attitudes, social conditions, and culture. Japanese women had a different pattern of behavior from the other three groups. The greatest differences were between Japanese and English-speaking. The main reasons given for not reporting were the following: victim did not take the event seriously, victim thought she was too young, victim thought reporting would cause trouble, victim expected rude police, victim expected embarrassment, victim expected police to violate her confidentiality, victim expected offender’s revenge, and victim expected that the offender/acquaintance would get into trouble. These data suggest a much larger dark figure of sexual assault than is reported, especially among those who are not Japanese and those whose offenders were known. Police statistics do not accurately reflect the number of women sexually assaulted, nor is there any systematic information collected explaining their reporting behavior.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Albin, R. S. (1977). Psychological studies of rape. Sings, 3, 423-435.
2.
Amir, M. (1971). Patterns in forcible rape. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
3.
Bornoff, N. (1991). Pink samurai: The pursuit and politics of sex in Japan. London: Grafton.
4.
Brownmiller, S. (1975). Against our will: Men, women and rape. New York: Simon & Schuster.
5.
Burgess, A. W., & Holmstrom, L. L. (1974, August). Rape trauma syndrome. American Journal of Psychiatry, 131, 981-986.
6.
Dussich, J.P.J.,& Shinohara, S. (1997). On reporting of sexual assault in Japan. Paper presented at the 9th International World Symposium on Victimology, Amsterdam.
7.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (1996). Uniform crime reports 1995. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
8.
Feild, H. (1978). Attitudes toward rape: A comparative analysis of police, rapists, crisis counselors, and citizens. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36, 156-179.
9.
Hozumi, J. (1994). Yomigaeru tamashii[Reborn soul]. Tokyo: Kobunken.
10.
Hyde, J. S. (1991). Half the human experience: the psychology of women(4th ed.). Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath.
11.
Information Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. (1994, June). The Situation of Chinese Women. Beijing, China: Author.
12.
Iwao, S. (1993). The Japanese woman: Traditional image and changing reality. NewYork: Free Press.
13.
Jeffs, A. (1999, March 28). Assaulted woman calls for a victim rights law. The Japan Times, p. 14-14.
14.
Koss, M. P. (1988). Hidden rape: Sexual aggression and victimization in a national sample of students of college students. In A. W. Burgess (Ed.), Rape and sexual assault(pp. 3-25). New York: Garland.
15.
Lee, O-young (1983). In this earth and in that wind: This is Korea(D. I. Steinberg, Trans.). Seoul, Korea: Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch.
16.
Morosawa, H. (1991). Trends of victimological studies in Japan: Prospects for the next decade based on an analysis of studies carried out during the past ten years. In G. Kaiser, H. Kury, & H. J. Albrecht (Eds.), Victims and criminal justice(pp. 119-231). Freiburg, Germany: Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Penal Law.
17.
Nakata, O., & Oda, S. (1966). Case of rape with homicide committed against a 5-year-old girl under the influence of pathological drunkenness. Japanese Journal of Criminology, 32, 194-199.
18.
Ochiai, K. (1981). Za reipu[The rape]. Tokyo: Kodansha.
19.
Ochiai, K. (1994). Sekando reipu[The second rape]. Tokyo: Kodansha.
20.
Oda, S. (1990). Sei to hanzai no shinri[Psychology of sexual crimes]. Tokyo: Geibunsha.
21.
Privat, P., & Litvin, M. (1990, July 16). Hope Hot Line, May I Help You? Newsweek, p. 34-34
22.
Scully, D., & Marolla, J. (1985). Rape and vocabularies of motive: Alternative perspectives. In A. W. Burgess (Ed.), Rape and sexual assault: A research handbook(pp. 294-312). New York: Garland.
23.
Shigemori, Y. (1970). Characteristics of rape victims. In K. Miyazawa (Ed.), Crime and victims: Victimology of Japan. Tokyo: Seibundo.
24.
Shukan gendai. (1999, August 2). The Present Weekly Magazine. (Kentaro Uchikoshi, Trans.)
25.
Steinberg, D. I. (1989). The Republic of Korea: Economic transformation and social change. Boulder, CO: Westview.
26.
Summary of the white paper on crime: 1996. (1996). Tokyo: Research and Training Institute, Ministry of Justice, Government of Japan.
27.
Tokyo Rape Crisis Center. (1990). Rape crisis. Tokyo: Gakuyo Shobo.
28.
Tsunoda, Yukiko. (1991). Sei no horitsugaku[Jurisprudence of sexuality]. Tokyo: Uhikaku.
29.
van Dijk, Jan, J. M., Mayhew, P., & Killias, M. (1991). Experiences of crime across the world: Key findings of the 1989 international crime survey(2nd ed.). Boston: Kluwer Law and Taxation Publishers.
30.
Vaughn, M. S., & Tomita, N. (1990). A longitudinal analysis of Japanese crime from 1926 to 1987: The pre-war, war, and post-war eras. International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice, 14(2), 145-160.
31.
The way of purification. (1966). In The teaching of Buddha. Tokyo: Bukkyo Denko Kyokai, Kosaido Printing Company, Ltd.
32.
Williams, L. S. (1984). The classic rape: When do victims report? Social Problems, 31, 459-467.
33.
Wolferen, K. van. (1993). The enigma of Japanese power, Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company.
34.
Wolfgang, M. E. (1958/1975). Patterns in criminal homocide. Montclair, NJ: Patterson Smith.
35.
Xie, L., Meng, X., Dussich, J., & Yamagami, A. (1995, August). Chinese student victims of sexual assault in Japan. Presentation to the 12th World Congress of Sexology, Yokohama, Japan.
36.
Yamagami, A. (1994, August). Actual situation of victims of homicide and the methods of victim assistance in Japan. Paper presented to the 8th International Symposium on Victimology, Adelaide, Australia.
