ABSTRACT
Introduction Interpersonal violence occurs in varied relationships and situations: in families or neighbourhoods, schools or workplaces. Nowadays, Japanese media report various cases of abuse, harassment and violence almost daily. However, in public discourse, reported cases are often regarded as if they are unusual and uncommon incidents in which the majority of citizens are not involved. Sometimes such a standpoint leads to victim-blaming and stigmatisation. In contrast, “coercive control was born in the microdynamics of everyday life” (Stark, 2007: 193). Even though the notion of coercive control does not yet widely prevail in Japanese discourse on interpersonal violence, the concept will be helpful for enhancing our understanding of essential features cross-cutting various appearances of interpersonal violence, both in the public and private spheres. This research aims to study the modes of interpersonal violence and intimate partner violence in legal and socio-cultural terms by exploring two research questions. First, the research explores the settings and relationships in which interpersonal violence tends to occur. In particular, the shifting features of family violence will be examined with special reference to child-parent relationships and child abuse. Second, the discussion focuses on intimate partner violence by questioning the reasons behind intimacy not being properly considered in the Japanese legal framework. Over the last two decades, interpersonal and intimate partner violence has increasingly gained public attention in Japan. The word “violence” often sounds too strong even for those who were damaged to admit that their interpersonal relationships deteriorated so badly. Even individuals in troubled relationships may not be able to identify the exact cause of it. Without an understanding of the multifaceted aspects of violence in the context of interpersonal relationships, even those involved tend to be unaware of the problems with their relationships (see e.g. Bancroft & Patrissi, 2011).
