CRC Session 35, 12 - 30 January 2004

JAPAN

Japan National Coalition Group of NGOs and Citizens for Preparing the Alternative Report on the CRC – English

Childhood Deprived in Japan

www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.35/01.Main.pdf

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"In my house, what my father said was absolute. Just because I couldn't solve math problems, he grabbed and pulled my hair, and hit me. Even though I was helping in preparing dinner, he still hit me for some reasons I could not understand. ... But we children were trying to be what our parents wanted us to be. Blaming ourselves, we thought that there would be some reasons for us to be punished. However, what hurt me more than such violent acts was his words. Whenever my father got angry, he always asked me who provided me with food to eat and house to live, using the most violent words. Of course he knew that I did not have any ways to earn money or anywhere else to go. It was really sad to hear him saying such things because I felt like my existence was denied. To me, he was saying as if he let me eat his food and stay his house even though he did not want to. I started to wonder if I was born to be loved and if there ware any reasons for me to be here."

"In the first grade, a physical education class was exactly like military training. At that time, teachers' violence was rampant at school. ---- Using his finger, our teacher orders us what to do. If we do not follow his order, we are hit, kicked, and ordered to sit on our heels. Our dignity is trampled down. Our teachers' command could turn us into human beings who can face right for many hours if we are ordered to do so. He tells us, "You don't have any human rights. Just follow my order." Some students are hit and kicked on the ground in front of many students. For a person who has a normal pride as a human being, it is painful to see such scenes. So they shut their eyes, ear, and heart. The situation gets even worse when it comes to an extra class. The teacher treats us like slaves. Then we finally get units of the subject. What if we have the slightest pride as human beings? The situation could be more miserable. ... Just because we are not smart, our teachers treat us like trash. A motto of this school is "patience". But what is patience? "Accept the fact that you are trash. Spend your life as trash. So you need to have patience!" In order for teachers to look at their trashy treated students without feeling something, they also need to have patience! We never wonder why we have to do whatever teachers tell us to do. ... They never tell the truth to our parents. "Your child did such bad things. Your child has all the responsibilities." "So your child cannot leave the house for a while." "Your child has to drop out school." Without looking at the nature of problems, a lot of

schoolmates left the school, or were forced to leave the school. Being treated like trash, they lost their hope for the society. Teachers' violence is considered as a part of education. But if students commit violence, whateve r the reason is, they are forced to drop out. In three years, about 150 students, or one-third of all students, left the school. High school was a place for us to prepare ourselves to be adults. Experiencing many things, we growing up. We are not trash. We can become trash if we are treated like it. But we are never trash!

C. Case of a child who attempted to commit suicide

When I was in the third grade of elementary school, I jumped from the 3rd floor of my house. I wanted to kill myself because I had been abused by my father. There are too many examples. In order to "discipline" his daughter, he beat me until I became unconscious. When I was taking shower, he came into the bathroom and took me outside naked. At a dinner table, reasoning that I sit in a bad position, he beat me every three minutes. His extreme "discipline" cornered me physically and mentally. Saying, "It is harder for your dad to hit you than you being hit," my mother failed to protect me. The only person who tried to protect me was my little brother. Even though his body was shaking, he tried to stop my father from beating me. But my father told me, "Why are you teasing your loving brother?" and beat me even harder. That made me hate my brother who was adored by my parents. I was never teased at school. Since my parents were rich and had incredibly good reputation, people around me thought that I was raised in a privileged family and envied me. Actually, such a good image of my family allowed me to escape from the reality. However, because I wanted to impress friends and could not tell anybody what my father was actually doing to me, I had to struggle even more.

... TV news frequently tells stories about children who were abused to death by their parents. Adult people are giants to children, and horror of children beaten to death by the giants is unimaginable. I cannot stand the fact that such abuse is still taking place somewhere in the world. Not only the physical abuse, parents' expectation for their children to go beyond their ability pressures them too much. Children who are not allowed to have their own personality are also physically abused. Children's feelings of despair and loneliness are immeasurable when their family, which is supposed to protect them, starts to attack them. Children do not have an ability to be independent in the society so that cannot live without their parents. They are not their parents' mascots or

marionettes, and deserve to be respected as human beings. It seems that the whole society forgets about it. Family must be the place where children feel secured and develop without restraining their own personality."

"If I had been myself since my birth, I would not have put a victimized child's head in front of the school gate. ...If I wanted, I could enjoy murdering alone without being noticed by other people. I tried to attract public attention because I wanted them to recognize me, who has been and will be transparent, as a real human being at least in their imagination. At the same time, I don't forget to take revenge on compulsory education which has made me "transparent" and the society which established the compulsory education."

"I thought my life was worthless. But this world is where the weak are the victims of the strong. If you are strong, you can kill and control the weak."

Those statements as written above tell us how adults kill children's personality and force children to be what they and their society want the m to be. Although children know that adults unreasonably treat them and hurt their dignity, they cannot do anything but obey the "giants." Their statements express their frustration and sadness. The strong control the weak in the society. Only the ones who have the ability to win in competitions can survive in the society. Those who do not have power and cannot make money have to stifle their desires and obey the strong. We can see how children, who are the weakest and have to depend on adults to live in such society, feel hopeless and powerless. A

tragedy happens when such feelings turn into hatred. When we pay attention to the children's messages, such government's statement as "Children are respected as human beings," sounds no longer persuasive. How could we accept the "reform" the government is promoting, that is, the way to force children to do everything under the formula, "self-determination = self-responsibility"? Could those messages be considered as "Selfishness of children who are spoiled in the rich society" ? Children are insisting adults and the society. "I don't want to live such a life. Even if I am not smart or useful, I want to be told, 'You are the one and only. You can be just the way you are.' I want to be respected as a human being." If adults and society do not notice children's "words" and ignore their messages, their "words" will be violent and destructive. Their anger against adults who do not understand them and their feeling of "nobody cares about me" urge them to conduct some destructive actions. Children's messages are warning the society, "Society should become the place where children can develop themselves!"

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In paragraph 45 of the Concluding Observations in 1998, CRC “recommends that corporal punishment be prohibited by Law in the family and in child-care and other institutions.” Moreover, in paragraph 40, CRC “recommends that the State party collect detailed information and data regarding cases of child abuse and ill-treatment, including sexual abuse, within the family,” and “cases of abuse and ill-treatment of children be properly investigated, sanctions applied to perpetrators and publicity given to decisions taken in order to enhance understanding of this phenomenon, and that in order to achieve this, an easily accessible and child-friendly complaint procedure be established.”

With regards to corporal punishment in CWIs, the paragraph 162 of the Second Report of Japan states, “revised the Minimum Standards for Child Welfare Facilities in February 1998 to include the provision on prohibiting the heads of facilities from abusing their authority for discipline, and endeavored to have them abide by it.” It also state, “stipulated in the Social Welfare Law approved in June 2000, the obligation of managers of Social Welfare Businesses to make efforts in solving users' complaints; and required each prefecture to set a committee for proper management in the Social Welfare Council to provide a mechanism to address consultation of users with complaints and to mediate solution for the complaints,” and “for a facility that has committed an act of corporal

punishment, violating the right of a child in the facility, gave a recommendation according to the Child Welfare Law to improve management of the facility, and provided guidance so that such act should never happen again.”

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In April of 1996, thirteen children in the Children‘s Homes “Oncho-en” in Chiba Prefecture run away and run into Child Guidance Center. As the investigation went on, the reason why the run away from the Homes became clear: the head of the Home maltreated and abused them. The head threatened children by using a kitchen knife, hurt their hands and feet, and struck a head with a chair. The children of the Oncho-en organized the movement against the head. They asked the relief statements of their rights to the Legal Bureau of Chiba Prefecture and Bar Association in Chiba (same year April), and demanded the governor of Chiba Prefecture to depose the head (same year August). Then the lawyers and residents organized “the society for support children of Oncho-en.”

head was driven into the resignation. On the other hand, the facts of ill-treatment by ex-director were brought out under the investigation of violence. The ex-staff, he is also the son of the ex-director, was arrested for the indecent behavior to the girl who are in Oncho-en. (March 2000). In May 2000, the ex-head was arrested for the injury: he cut the child’s hands with scissors. The judge sentenced the ex-staff to four year’s imprisonment (October, 2000) and the ex-head to eight month’s imprisonment (July, 2001). In March of 2000, eleven Oncho-en graduates brought an action against Chiba government, ex- head, and the corporation of social welfare which manage the Oncho-en for a compensation for damage. They appealed they have been suffering from trauma which brought from ill-treatment by ex-director.

One of the plaintiff witnessed that he was forced to sleep with dead chicken which he killed by accident when he was 11 or 12 years old. For that time, the board of directors of Oncho-en decided to close the Home. But the children and “the society for support children of Oncho-en” made a movement which demanded Oncho- en not to abolish but to improve. The Minister of Health and Welfare guided Chiba government to continue

to run the Home. As a result, Oncho-en was not closed. A new head took it up in April 2000, and he published the new plan to reform the Home management. In the plan, he proposed the establishment of the third party organ which is composed of lawyers and

the representative of neighborhood, and the drafting of guidelines on child care and discipline. Based upon the movement led by victimized children and the support from many people such as lawyers, neighbors, and the research groups, Oncho-en Home started the process for reform. But, administrative organs and the official complaint procedure didn’t work at all. “The society for children of Oncho-en” developed into “the society for stopping ill-treatment in CWI.” Now, they support children who are in CWIs by investigating ill-treatment or violence by workers to children.

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The number and incidence rate of bullying are decreasing after peaking in 1995. (see the Chart below and the Chart in the next page) The government attributes this to

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However, incidences of school violence have risen dramatically since 1996. If we compare 1996 and 2001, the number of cases in junior high schools of violence among students increased from 4,700 cases to 11,600 cases; in high schools the number leaped from around 2,000 to around 3,300 cases. In elementary schools, in which records began to be kept in 1997, the number cases went from 624 to 668. The fact that, although incidents of bullying have fallen, violence among students is becoming more prevalent shows that what took shape in the past as bullying is now emerging as violence.

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The idea was to control, first telephone dating services, and later, internet “dating service websites.” At these services or websites men and women make contact with potential dating or sexual partners. As services and websites developed, it became easy for women to make contact with sex partners. In particular, female children were singled out by authorities as “soliciting” sex and attempting to arrange for “compensated dating.”(enjo kosai) The internet dating service websites allow strangers to arrange meetings privately, and they are freely accessible to juveniles using their mobile phones, telephones or the internet. According to police reports on this phenomenon, in cases of child prostitution most of the initial contact between the juvenile and the sex partner were made using

and increasing the severity of penalties will improve conditions. “Dating service websites are hotbeds of crime,” “it is inexcusable that juveniles solicit supported

dating,” “Children these days have no idea of good and bad”: these are the popular feelings which have led to increased police enforcement of the ban on dating service website access for juveniles. However, closer examination of the 93.8% of cases in which girls accessed these websites reveals that the desire for money was not the reason most often given for attempts to arrange meetings with adults. In cases of actual sexual misconduct, most often it can be clearly blamed on the persuasions and offers of the adults, and thus classed as child prostitution. Even if a child’s sense of values has

been distorted to the point that the “desire for money” was the main reason given for accessing websites and going on dates, it is questionable that criminalizing this moral flaw will help the child reform. Education and reform measures, such as have been carried out in equivalent cases until recently, appear to be far more effective. Japanese society is choosing, increasingly, the act of making juveniles wear the Scarlet Letter of their crime in the form of full criminal penalties, rather than trying to understand the problems surrounding the juvenile, untangling internal factors and environmental influences and providing the chance to reform. Adults who profit from child prostitution or sexual activity must pay for their crimes, and criminalizing their behavior is unavoidable. However, aligning the punishment of juveniles with that of adults only obscures the issue. Adult society must examine the message being sent to them

from juveniles who misbehave, and seriously ask why they are going to sites and soliciting supported dating, and take responsibility for setting up appropriate facilities and systems for treatment.