Japan needs to enact a law to recognize domestic violence as a crime and keep abusive husbands away from victimized women, according to the head of HELP Asian Women's Shelter, a private organization that provides emergency refuge for abused women.
"In Japan, people tend to think domestic violence is a private matter of a married couple and do not treat it as a social problem," HELP Director Keiko Otsu said in an interview. "We need to change our perspective so that we regard such abuse as a crime, but to do that, we need a law to raise social awareness of the issue."
With Lower House election campaigning now under way, Otsu said she hopes lawmakers will present a domestic violence prevention bill in the next ordinary Diet session starting in January, taking into account that a group of female lawmakers in the Upper House is already working on drafting the bill.