Reported domestic violence cases up by 46.3% so far this year

It is great that women, and men too, now feel they can report domestic violence.

Most victims just want the coppers to come round and have a word with the abusive partner, to scare them into thinking twice before raising a fist or foot to their family again.

I hope that the police can do a good job scaring the crap out of the abusers.

in the three tsunami-hit prefectures...confirmed criminal cases decreased... attributed to the greater number of police officers stationed in the region and an increase in patrols.

In other words, the post-earthquake looting rate is stabilizing.

The DV figure is insane, and it seems to indicate a change in reporting methods, rather than a real increase.

I am sure there are several factors that have to do with the increase, such as ease of reporting. Yet, I think the economic hardships that Japan is going through also increases household stress levels, which lead to domestic violence.

Either way, sad that so many are suffering.

It's probably a SLIGHT increase in actual DV, and a MAJOR increase in reporting it.

I very much doubt domestic violence cases are up by 46%.... chances are that Japan may have "reclassified" the meaning of "domestic violence" and thus more incidents fall into this category. Either way.... when there is little recourse for women and in a country that tries to hide their dirty laundry.... I'm sure this is just the tip of the iceburg. I hope I'm not right though.

That is great news that more people are reporting now the question is many cases will the police resolve or actually investigate. Reports are one thing but I want to see the stats on investigated and resolved cases, is there an increase in those too?

I wonder how many are unreported?

Too bad the police do nothing about domestic violence. You can report it, but I have never heard of anyone being arrested for even obvious physical abuse. I once stepped in to stop a man who was punching his wife on the street, in broad daylight. The woman was covered in blood from the pummeling she received. However, when the police finally showed up, they refused to arrest the man, telling me that it was a private, domestic issue, and none of their concern. While my friend comforted the woman and tried help her clean up her face, the police officers stood around and joked with the guy.

@Craig Dandridge: Unfortunately, only too true I'm sure, but at least now, cases are being reported. Let's hope that one day they'll really do something about it!

Craig, you should give the man a taste of his own medicine next time. If you can't beat them, beat it into them.

Craig, you should give the man a taste of his own medicine next time. If you can't beat them, beat it into them.

The ironic thing is the police will probably arrest him for that...

I wonder if this related to the horrible economy here in Japan?? Men getting fired, down sized etc..from work getting frustrated, etc..taking it out on the wife and

Oops, taking it out on the wife and kids. IMHO.

Domestic violence happens to men too.

number of confirmed cases of domestic violence

I feel the NPA has changed the definition of confirmed in order to find this increase. It might have been - the victim complained but the abuser denied it so, no DV. Now maybe the definition is - the victim complained and filled out the proper forms properly (possibly while bleeding from the head).

A good point, borscht - I wonder if anyone can find out whether the definition has changed, and how.

Domestic violence happens to men too.

Very true. Husbands hit wives, wives hit husbands, parents hit children, children hit parents. There is child abuse, spousal abuse, elder abuse. What a lovely species we are.

To make any progress with this problem in Japan will take at least a generation of focused educational effort, starting at elementary schools, but in a country where teachers ignore bullying, that's going to be an uphill struggle.

give the man a taste of his own medicine next time That's the Schwarzenegger method, as demonstrated in Kindergarten Cop ("You hit your kid, I hit you") (spoken in a thick Austrian accent with a ham fist locked around the offending parent's throat).

That seems very poetic and satisfying, but in reality it'll probably just get Arnie arrested and the kid a few more lumps.

Cases of beaten wives may not be as severe as other parts of the world and should hopefully be improved with increase in number of reporting. Am more worried about child abuse as much of the cases are less likely to come in the open until the childs death. It should be in the best interests of the entire nation to keep these kids alive.

Cases of anything could be more severe in other parts of the world. Nonetheless they should not be tolerated. It seems like people always care more about the rights of nearly everyone over those of women.

Some analysts believe the sudden increase is due to victims becoming more likely to report such crimes to police.

This is truly the case. Japanese are no more immune to the effects of stress of living in contaminated land (irregardless of whether it actually is or not), and beaten women are simply beaten too far, and finally realizing that they have rights as well. Good for them, since you really can be a "victim" of domestic violence only once. Once you let strike two happen, you're already a silent partner, a collaborator.

I'm also curious about what "confirmed cases" means. For example, my ex accused me of being a bad guy and abusing her verbally and psychologically. Well, I did shout at her "get out of my house you *****", after I found her banging other guys. maybe that was a similar scene when Craig intervened. my ex said that the verbal abuse was more cruel than beating her?? but fortunately the divorce was smooth, maybe because her parents were crazed and "abused" her verbally even harsher than I did

That it's easier to report... who cares ? I mean, you report and then you go back home and get the next beating ? Has the treatment of cases changed ? Is there a greater access to shelter, to psychiatric help or whatever ? If not, why reporting ? I wouldn't bother if the police just fills a file and put it in a box.

Men getting fired, down sized etc..from work getting frustrated, etc..

That could be an explanation, man close to lose job is seen as a future burden... and...

taking it out on the wife and

Not necessarily, but if she'd like to keep the kids after divorce and squeeze the maximum of cash from him and the in-laws, so she builds up a file ...

Under Japanese law, only married couples are covered and no one else.DV防止法は、結婚していない恋人間や親戚、親子、姉弟、兄妹などを対象としておらず. It should be called IPV. (intimate partner violence).

Based on the current thumbs downs I would say that we have at least one man beater in our midsts. Domestic violence DOES HAPPEN to men- THAT IS A REALITY.

A man must never hit a woman

Ever heard the reverse? A woman must never hit a man............didn't think so.

How many guys have been hit by their Japanese partners? It seems to be a culturally accepted thing. And while I don't consider some of it domestic violence at what point does it become so?

You want equal rights? You owe equal responsibilities. Thumb this down DV doers.

I wonder how many are unreported?

I know for certain that 3 are. And for my sake lets hope they stay unreported!

GOOD POINT moomoochoo !!!!

Men also go though DV but not as common as women. Nonetheless, if a man treats his wife with respect, and his wife also treats his respectively, there is no reason for violence. Kids go through the roughest end of it though. They suffer from abuse from both parents at time, mom gets a divorce, dad beats the mom up for requesting a divorce, kids are in the middle, it's an ugly mess. why hit a woman? Why deal everything with violence? If two adults united themselves sanely, why can't they separate in peace, through dialogue?

Can't we just get along?

This is how the law should be set- You "violence" on your family member regardless age and gender and sexual orientation, you'd get the same treatment back. So they will know how painful it feels both physically and psychologically.

@ moomoochoo - Thank you. As a survivor of domestic violence, I appreciate you pointing out that men are victims too. I allowed my 1st wife to beat and torture me for 15 years. I could have snapped her like a twig, but I am unable to hit women. I did a lot of rationalizing over those years, until the day she looked me in the eye and said "I'm gonna kill you. I don't care how much trouble I get in or how long I go to jail for." Then she tried. Afterwards, during counseling, they told me the ratio of DV victims is actually 60% women/40% men.

@sensei258 You are not alone. Countless numbers of DV cases involve men being abused. Japanese women don't hesitate to physically brutalize their husbands. Furthermore, the police often ignore these cases, often restructuring the events in order to blame the man for the abuse he just received. As if he deserved it.

You must be extremely careful with Japanese women. They know they can abuse you cause 99.9% of all legal matters are in their favor. If they call the police, YOU are in trouble.

If you are a smart person, you'd immediately seek to get out of this abusive relationship. Without any legal police reports your injuries will go unnoticed by Family Court. She will demand money is order to divorce her. That's backwards right?

You have to pay to get away from an abusive wife.

Japanese women don't hesitate to physically brutalize their husbands.

I was at a meeting once where the speaker was a Japanese woman who was campaigning against domestic violence. Every case she cited was husbands against wives, fathers against daughters, brothers against sisters, so in the question time I asked her about DV against males. First she told me it didn't exist because males were bigger and stronger. When I challenged her on that I thought she was going to leap down off the podium and assault me. Later some of the Japanese men at the meeting told me they'd wanted to ask the same question but were too afraid.