Japanese Women Abused, Tortured, Assaulted In Prisons

In a huge blow to women’s rights, various women have faced abuse and torture in prisons in Japan. Once imprisoned, various women suffer serious human rights abuses, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report. 

Japanese women are being restrained in pregnancy. They have no access to healthcare facilities during pregnancy, including mental healthcare. They also face solitary confinement and verbal abuse by prison guards in prisons in Japan. 

The Human Rights Watch released a 76-page report, “‘They Don’t Treat Us like Human Beings’: Abuse of Imprisoned Women in Japan,” to highlight the plight of women in prisons in Japan. 

Women abused in Japan’s prisons

Many imprisoned pregnant women have faced torture in prisons. Prison authorities also introduced solitary confinement as a form of punishment for imprisoned women. In a blow to women’s rights, the authorities also verbally abuse women in prison, which affects their mental health. 

The authorities do not provide women adequate access to health and mental health care. Women are also separated from their babies, raising questions about women’s rights in Japan. 

Sometimes, various women are imprisoned because of minor crimes. Teppei Kasai, the program officer at Human Rights Watch (HRW) for the Asia Division based in Tokyo, Japan, said in the HRW report, “The reality is that many of these women shouldn’t have been punished by imprisonment in the first place.”

Teppei Kasai said that some women were imprisoned for simple drug-related violations. Japan imprisoned various women because of their possession and use of drugs. The HRW urged the authorities to utilize alternatives to imprisonment for such crimes.

Article 482 of Japan’s Criminal Procedure Code allows women to suspend prison sentences under various circumstances, including a person’s age, health, and family situation. However, only 11 imprisoned women had their prison sentences suspended over the last five years.

Women and transgender people often face serious human rights abuses behind prison walls. They do not get access to medical and other basic services at prisons in Japan.