ABSTRACT

This book provides a detailed examination of judicial decision-making in Japanese cases involving sexual violence. It describes the culture of 'eroticised violence' in Japan, which sees the feminine body as culpable and the legal system which encourages homogeneity and conformity in decision-making and shows how the legal constraints confronting women claiming sexual assaults are enormous. It includes analysis of specific case studies and a discussion of recent moves to address the problem.

chapter |17 pages

4 Credibility in the court

Scripting rape

chapter |26 pages

5 ‘In truth she was probably very drunk'

Women subject to scrutiny

chapter |21 pages

6 Markers of truth

Silencing women in the court

chapter |4 pages

8 Conclusion