Japan has confirmed 914 cases of inappropriate child care, including 90 cases of abuse, at nursery schools across the country between April and December 2022, a survey by the Children and Families Agency showed Friday. Of the 90 abuse cases, there were 36 cases of physical abuse, 42 cases of mental abuse, 20 cases of sexual abuse and four neglect cases. They include cases involving two or more abuse types.
Six former employees of ‘Seiryu no Sato’, a support facility for persons with disabilities in Nishi-okobe village, were sent to prosecution on suspicion of assault for repeatedly abusing residents last year, including unnecessarily pressing down on them.
The Monbetsu District Public Prosecutor’s Office summarily charged five of them with assault on 29 March.
Six former employees of ‘Seiryu no Sato’, a support facility for persons with disabilities in Nishi-okobe village, were sent to prosecution on suspicion of assault for repeatedly abusing residents last year, including unnecessarily pressing down on them.
The Monbetsu District Public Prosecutor’s Office summarily charged five of them with assault on 29 March.
On the other hand, one former employee was not prosecuted.
The number of abuse cases against people with disabilities confirmed by local governments in Japan in fiscal 2021 rose by 284 from the preceding year to a record 3,085, according to the welfare ministry.
The growth reflected rises in related consultations and reports on the back of increased public awareness about the law on preventing abuse against disabled people, which requires those finding such abuse cases to report to local governments.
In fiscal year 2021, a total of 2,960 persons with disabilities who were abused at home or in institutions were identified by local authorities across Japan (up 295 from the previous year). This is the highest number since FY12, when the survey began. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) announced the figures on 24th March.
A director of a corporation that operates facilities for the disabled was arrested for sexually assaulting a teenage female user. The Kumamoto District Court sentenced him to five years in prison.
A 28-year-old former employee of a support facility for people with disabilities in Wakkanai was arrested on suspicion of assault at the facility for deliberately putting their foot on a resident and causing the resident to fall over. The police are investigating in detail whether the abuse was a regular occurrence.
In the last few days, there were two incidents involving both suspected theft and fraud at facilities for people with disabilities in Japan.
In January this year, a woman who lives in Ota Ward, Tokyo, who has cerebral palsy, a speech impediment palsy and uses home visiting care contracted a new variant of the coronavirus and requested to be admitted to a metropolitan hospital, but was refused.
In October last year, prefectural police arrested a 53-year-old man for sexually assaulting a mentally disabled woman at a hotel in Asahi-ku, Yokohama.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of quasi-forcible sexual intercourse is a company employee living in Sobudai, Zama City. At the time, the suspect was a staff member of a continuous employment support facility in the prefecture, and the woman was using the facility.
The suspect has reportedly admitted to the charges to the police, saying, “there is no doubt.”
Barrier Free Japan