How to handle Sexual depictions in drawn child pornography in which the child victim is "not real"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The problem is the content of the work

An elementary school girl gleefully reaches for the lower half of a male teacher's body.
A graphic incest between a teenage sister and brother.
A young girl is bound naked in chains and subjected to sexual torture.

All of these contents were published in "general-interest" manga magazines not designated for adults. The naked girls on the color pages are very realistic in terms of their pre-secondary sexual characteristics and skin color. They are displayed in bookstores without being covered, and children can easily pick them up.

The proposed amendment to the Tokyo Metropolitan Ordinance Regarding the Healthy Development of Youths requires that manga and anime depicting rape and other malicious sexual acts against young people be displayed on adult-oriented shelves. The current system for designating unsound books limits the criteria for regulation to "clear depictions of genitalia" and other factors. Thus, cartoons depicting rape, gang rape, or incest of children are practically unregulated as long as the genitals are blurred out.　

Some people argue that there is no need to regulate the depiction of sexual violence in manga, anime, and other virtual child pornography　because the victims do not exist. However, the problem is not that simple. Cartoons influence children's sexual awareness and behavior.

According to a survey by the Japanese Association for Sex Education (2005), "comics/magazines" are the second most common source of information on male-female relationships and sexual intercourse for junior high and high school students, after "friends". Since parents and schools do not teach sex properly, comics are valued as "sex textbooks.

Last year, I conducted a survey of male and female university students in Tokyo on the relationship between media and sexual attitudes and behavior. One boy, in his third year of junior high school, asked his girlfriend to have sexual intercourse for the first time. However, she was not interested. In the end, he forced her to have sexual intercourse with him. After that, she left him.

"In the manga I used to read at the time, there were many scenes of girls having sexual intercourse in which they were reluctant to say 'no, stop that,' or 'no, no,' but gradually became pleased. I thought they would at first pretend to be shy," he said.

Manga depictions of sex often include the "rape myth," which drowns out male guilt, by saying that "girls really want to be attacked. It is very possible that children with little life experience will believe these myths.

Furthermore, cartoons and animations that portray rape and incest as if children willingly accept them may make children less resistant to them. If children are made to believe that their youth and sexuality are "valuable commodities," they may be tempted to engage in prostitution and underwear sales. A study by the Asian Women's Fund (1997) found that high school girls who engage in "Enjo-Kousai" (prostitution) are more likely to believe information from the media.

Because drawn works can be "anything goes," certain restrictions are necessary. It is not a question of whether or not the work features real people, but rather what kind of "message" it sends. At the same time, I would like to call for the incorporation of literacy education for children at school and at home to critically read and understand the sexual information from the media.　

(Mainichi Shimbun, "Discussion Points," published June 11, 2010)

▶Mayuko Watanabe Official Website

The key points regarding the revision of Japan's Child Pornography Prohibition Law

When Will the Third Amendment to Japan's Child Pornography Law Come?

Since last year, a number of illustrations and cartoons, such as "Onsen Musume" and "Tawawa," have been criticized for their sexually explicit content.

In addition, petitions concerning "a request for the third revision of the Child Prostitution and Child Pornography Prohibition Law in line with the UN recommendations" have been frequently submitted to the Diet. 

There are growing calls for the criminalization of sexual expression in cartoons and animations.

These developments are reminiscent of the eve of the second revision of the Child Pornography Prohibition Law (2014).

Toward the third amendment, what are the points of discussion?
For your reference, here is what I once said in an interview with Kyodo News, which is now available online for the first time.

The need to eliminate the sex crime factor

-The background of the argument for stricter regulations is the international criticism that "Japan is a child pornography powerhouse."

"Child pornography originating in Japan is very popular overseas. Japanese pornography often features violent stories that subordinate women and give men a sense of superiority. In other countries, there is a lack of such stories, perhaps because of the strong position of women. "

"The number of cases involving child pornography in Japan has been increasing every year and is at an all-time high."

-What is the relationship between child pornography and crime?

"People who commit sex crimes, such as child prostitution, have various factors, such as stress in their relationships and family environment, and they use children as an outlet for their dissatisfaction. Child pornography is at least a factor, as it can be a clue, or a trigger at the end of a crime. It cannot be said that if we don't look at it, it will disappear completely, but we must eliminate the factors one by one."

"I am conducting surveys and interviews with students at several universities to determine the impact of media sex information, and we have found that they are quite turned on by it since childhood. One male student forced to have sexual intercourse with his girlfriend when he was in the third grade of junior high school. He said it was because there was a pattern in many comic books of girls refusing verbally to have sex with him but gradually becoming pleased. Many boys believe that it is OK to come on to a girl when she comes to their house, and there is no end to the damage done to girls as a result of this."

-Is the influence of manga, anime, and video games significant?

"Manga and anime depict children who are happy to be sexually victimized. It eliminates the sense of guilt. In addition, manga and anime are accessible entertainment for children and inexpensive. They are a significant source of information."

"In games, the influence of them in which you are the main character is great. When they see how girls react to bishojo (beautiful girls) games and the like, they assume that real women are the same way."

-There is a fear of violating freedom of expression. Are the current regulations insufficient?

"I want to protect freedom of expression because I was also a creator of TV programs. However, I do not think it is right to allow depictions of humiliation that use force to subdue women to go unchecked. It goes beyond the guarantee of freedom of expression."

"There are many stakeholders in the pornography market, and an incomplete approach will not stop child sexual abuse material. In fact, the regulations that have been put in place so far have not stopped it."

-How do you see the way newspapers and TV stations handle the issue?

"The newspapers' tone varies, but I get the impression that they are somewhat biased toward opposition to the regulations. They seem to be too focused on the crisis of freedom of expression, and their tone seems to be one of opposition for the time being."

"Recently, there have been reports on TV blaming children, saying that children are voluntarily selling their naked pictures and selling their bodies, and that this is shameful. This is outrageous. The focus is not on the problem of the adults who buy them. We should make it clear that this is a problem for us adults."

(September 1, 2010, "What to do about child pornography regulations," Kyodo News Disputes)

 ▶Mayuko Watanabe Official Website