Japan reveals shocking female harassment, spousal abuse statistics

The Japanese government on Friday said in a report that 10 percent of women here have been a victim of harassment or stalking, with 29 percent of them saying the incidents led them to fear for their lives.

In a Cabinet Office report based on a survey conducted last December on 3,544 respondents, both male and female, 11 percent of women said they had experienced harassment from the opposite sex, compared to 4 percent of men admitting the same.

While 29 percent of the female victims said that the incidents had made them fear for their lives, of the poll conducted on adults mainly in their 30s, 16 percent of men said that such occurrences had made them feel their lives were in danger.

The government data revealed that the vast majority of perpetrators were ex-boyfriends or girlfriends, comprising nearly 40 percent of assailants, whereas friends and associates accounted for 21 percent harassers. Colleagues and work-related people were responsible for 20 percent of the incidents, according to the Cabinet Office.

Those polled said they were harassed in a number of different ways, with nearly 40 percent saying they received threatening or offensive e-mails, or suffered some form of cyber bullying, while 57 percent suggested their harassment was physical in nature, such as stalking.

In total, 62 percent of female victims questioned said they'd been forced to make changes to their daily routines to protect themselves, while 27 percent said they feared leaving their homes entirely. Mental and physical disorders resulting from the harassment affected 20 percent of the female victims, the survey showed, with 18 percent suffering from sleeping disorders and 15 percent having to take time off work or quit due to the psychological or physiological ramifications of being harassed.

Of all of those surveyed, only 10 percent of the women reported the cases to the police, compared to 3 percent of men, although 78 percent of the female victims and 41 percent of the males said they confided in someone about their predicament.

The Cabinet Office, following a separate study, also found that local governments'consultation services to support victims of harassment were woefully inadequate, with a dire lack of both funding and qualified counsellors capable of dealing with such cases.

Haruko Arimura, the minister in charge of women's empowerment, said she will implore local governments to do more to help victims of harassment.

The Cabinet Office, in yet another telling survey released Friday, said that 24 percent of women have suffered physical or mental abuse or a combination of both at the hands of their spouses, compared to 17 percent of men who have also been victims of domestic violence.

Of all the victims surveyed, 57 percent of both genders said they took no counsel from third parties, although 11 percent of females eventually separated from their violent partners, compared to 46 percent who stated they wanted to but could not, largely due to concerns for the wellbeing of their children, or out of financial concerns.

The survey also showed that children were not immune to domestic violence, with 27 percent of those surveyed saying their children had been victims of such violence, particularly of a psychological nature. Endite