OSAKA -- While Japanese society has finally started recognizing the rights of crime victims, people must now begin listening to their messages, according to Eri Atarashi, the author of a recent book on support for crime victims.
"Victims here suffer not only from actual damage caused by crime but also from a lack of support from their community and society in general," she said in an interview. "Crime victims have long been ignored in Japan and few people understand their actual feelings and situations."
Atarashi, a 27-year-old graduate student specializing in socio-criminology at Osaka City University, said the key to providing the right kind of support for people victimized by crime is to first understand their true state of mind. Japan, which some experts say is about 20 years behind other industrialized countries in its support for crime victims, enacted legislation in May to protect -- for the first time -- the rights of people affected by crime.