The Japanese government on Wednesday unveiled new emergency measures to help prevent sex crimes against minors, following allegations of sexual abuse involving Johnny Kitagawa, the late founder of major talent agency Johnny & Associates, and the resulting scandal.

Led by the Children and Families Agency, the emergency measures focus on protecting children and young adults from sexual assault.

As a part of the measures, the government plans to set up by September a hotline for male victims of sexual assault of all ages so that they or their parents have a way to seek psychological support if needed.

The government's move is a result of calls to provide more support to male victims of sexual assault, who often say it is difficult to find help.

While agencies that support victims of sexual assault — regardless of gender — already exist, factors like the image given off by the way these agencies market their services or the fact that many counselors are women, can give the impression that male victims cannot seek help, according to Hiromi Nakano, chairperson of Shiawase Namida, a nonprofit organization that works to support victims of sexual assault.

“Ideally, all hotlines should be able to support anyone, regardless of their gender or age,” said Nakano. “But since currently we are behind on building resources and counselors that excel at supporting men, I think establishing a hotline like this is a very important first step for now.”

The government has also said it will continue to hold talks on setting up a Japanese version of Britain's Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

This measure would bar sex offenders from working with children, and applicants looking to find employment at places like schools and nurseries would have to submit a certificate to prove that they have no record of having committed any such offense in the past.

The government is also focusing on raising awareness on what constitutes sexual assault, as young victims sometimes do not know they have been assaulted and are unaware of how to deal with it.

Social networking services have also been raised in the emergency measure as an effective way of seeking help. One example is the government-run platform cure time, which is a support system that allows users who have been sexually assaulted to consult with professionals anonymously.

U.N. experts on human rights have recently arrived in Japan to investigate the impact that business operations generally have on human rights, and to speak with victims of alleged sexual abuse by Johnny Kitagawa, with sessions held earlier this week and another set to take place on Friday.