Japan train commuters buy ‘groper insurance’ to defend against sexual assault claims
The issue of women being molested on trains has long been a problem in Japan
Commuters in Japan are snapping up an insurance policy that promises to provide them with immediate legal advice if they are falsely accused of groping another passenger aboard one of the nation’s notoriously crowded trains.
An official from Japan Small Amount and Short Term Insurance company said the policy was introduced in September 2015 and initially had “not many” inquiries, but that had changed in recent months.
The issue of women being molested on trains has long been a problem in Japan, despite a number of campaigns by train operators and police to combat the problem. In parallel, however, has been the plight of men mistakenly accused of touching a woman.
About 1,800 arrests are made each year under public nuisance ordinances, but in a landmark case in 2006 a professor at the National Defence Medical College appealed his conviction all the way to the Supreme Court and had his conviction - and 22-month prison sentence - overturned.
The man’s initial conviction had been based solely on the testimony of the alleged victim, but the court ruled that there was a high possibility that she had made a mistake aboard the packed train.