3. Violence against women

(1) Measures to prevent violence against women from being hidden

Women who have suffered violence often hesitate to appeal to pertinent authorities, and fail to bring action against the assailant for fear of reprisal. Victims also oftensuffer from secondary damage from officers in charge of investigation, counselors and medical professionals.
Due to this situation, many cases of violence against women go unreported, and are hidden from society.
In order to promote measures to eradicate all forms of violence against women, it is necessary to accurately grasp the actual situation, and to educate the public about the need to eradicate violence against women to this end, the Government is planning a nationwide survey on the perspective of the public about this issue.
In l998 the House of Councilors established a Research Committee on Society of Cooperative Way of Life and has designated violence against women as one of the themes to be researched.

(2) Low awareness of the general public regarding violence against women

Because violence against women tends to go unreported, and hidden from society, the general public is not fully aware that violence against women seriously violates the basic human rights of women and is a serious social problem.
To educate the public about the need to eradicate violence against women, in l998 the Prime Minister's Office held " The Forum on Violence against Women", which attracted around 500 participants.