Each of the 47 prefectures is expected to have a support center where rape and sexual assault victims can get medical treatment and counseling, due largely to new central government subsidies, a Kyodo News survey has shown.
Eleven prefectures lacking such facilities — Aomori, Iwate, Akita, Toyama, Ishikawa, Yamanashi, Shizuoka, Nara, Kagawa, Ehime and Kochi — are thinking of setting them up, although six do not have concrete timetables, the survey revealed Saturday.
The support centers, dubbed "one-stop assistance centers" by the government, serve as a refuge for victims of sexual assault, including those who face difficulties reporting their cases to police.
The central government has set 2020 as the target for having at least one support center in each prefecture. It is allocating ¥160 million in the fiscal 2017 budget for them. The subsidies are designed to partially compensate other governments for the cost of building and operating the centers, and footing victims' medical bills.
Thirty-six prefectures have already set up at least one support center. For example, Sexual Assault Crisis Healing Intervention Center Osaka, located at Hannan Chuo Hospital in Matsubara, provides around-the-clock treatment and counseling for sexual assault victims in Osaka.
Of the 11 prefectures considering plans for such facilities, Kagawa plans to open one in April, Iwate around fall, Akita and Ishikawa sometime between April and March 2018, and Toyama no later than April 2018, according to the survey.
The survey was conducted in January and February.