Barrier Free Japan feels a little bit under the weather, but here is a digest of recent news stories. The Osaka High Court allowed a hearing impaired person to use Speech-to-Text technology, Carers will receive wage hikes and COVID cases are increasing.
The Japanese government will help raise wages for care workers to alleviate labor shortages in the sector, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Takamaro Fukuoka said in a recent interview.
Staff shortages at care facilities are “very serious,” Fukuoka said. He then noted that “the pay growth rate in the sector is said to be low”
The suspect (71) arrested on suspicion of non-consensual sexual intercourse, is a driver for a disability support facility in Koganei City, Tokyo, who is suspected of sexually assaulting a female user in her 20s on the bus he was driving in July this year.
A total of 38 cases suspected to be abuse were confirmed going back about 10 years, with 11 users abused and nine staff members abusing them, and the committee pointed out that “abuse had become the norm.” According to the report, the abuse continued from around 2014 until last year, and included the following acts: hitting users on the head and ankles with a mallet in what was called “Hammer Chance”; forcing users to drink large amounts of fluids in what was called the “Sakazuki Challenge”; and making users run down the hallways and do squats under the pretext of dieting and exercise.
The businesses that received administrative action from Kyoto City are Kyoto Prefecture Aozora-kai and Link Natural Japan, both of which are located in Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto City.
A total of 38 cases suspected to be abuse were confirmed going back about 10 years, with 11 users abused and nine staff members abusing them, and the committee pointed out that “abuse had become the norm.” According to the report, the abuse continued from around 2014 until last year, and included the following acts: hitting users on the head and ankles with a mallet in what was called “Hammer Chance”; forcing users to drink large amounts of fluids in what was called the “Sakazuki Challenge”; and making users run down the hallways and do squats under the pretext of dieting and exercise.
The suspect had apparently been providing personal care for her 85-year-old husband Shori. She reportedly admitted to the charge by telling police, “There is no mistake (that I did it). I was tired of looking after him.”
Nearly 20 pct of young people in Japan whose parents have been killed or left permanently disabled in traffic accidents are caregivers of family members, a recent survey by an association for children of traffic accident victims showed.
A man who ran a group home for people with disabilities admitted to habitually sexually abusing two women who stayed there, also filming obscene scenes with a smartphone. In court, he repeatedly stated that “it was his own weakness that led him to commit the crime.” The prosecution denounced the crime as “treating the victims as an outlet for sexual desire and severely violating their personalities,” and sought a 10-year prison sentence.
Sales of continence care products in the country grew from 78.3 billion yen in 2019 to 98 billion yen in 2023 and are on track to top 100 billion yen this year, according to research company Intage Inc.
Barrier Free Japan