Reported bullying cases hit record high in MOJ human rights report

The Mainichi Shimbun
March 29, 2008
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080329p2a00m0na007000c.html

The number of reported bullying incidents in Japan surged to a record level in 2007, a Ministry of Justice (MOJ) report on human rights violations has shown.

Of the 21,506 human rights violations fielded by legal affairs bureaus and other bodies across the nation, 2,152 were related to school bullying, far surpassing the 973 incidents reported the previous year, a previous record figure.

The Ministry of Justice's human rights bureau said that the increase in reported bullying incidents was a result of efforts to assess the extent of bullying, including the creation of a toll-free hotline for child victims of human rights abuse in February 2007.

Also on the rise were online privacy violations and defamation, with 418 incidents reported, a 48.2 percent increase compared with the previous year. A total of 600 child abuse cases were reported -- a 12.4 percent increase.

(Mainichi Japan) March 29, 2008

Ministry: School bullying doubles in '07

The Yomiuri Shimbun
March 29, 2008
Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20080329TDY03101.htm

Legal affairs bureaus and other institutions across the country handled a record 2,152 cases of human rights violations involving bullying at schools in 2007--more than twice as many cases as in the previous year, according to a Justice Ministry report released Friday.

A total of 21,506 cases of human rights violations were dealt with last year, up 0.8 percent on the previous year.

The school bullying figure is believed to have increased because the ministry has strengthened its consultation framework and worked to detect cases that had not previously surfaced.

The figure also drives home the extent of bullying in schools.

The figure cited in the report did not represent the number of cases in which children were actually bullied in school, but those in which school administrators took inappropriate measures to deal with the bullying problem.

The ministry has taken steps to get a clearer picture of the situation, such as by waiving fees normally charged for consultations via a telephone hotline for children's human rights issues, and by distributing letters to primary and middle school students across the country. The children are encouraged to write their worries on the letters and send them back to the ministry.

As a result, 121.2 percent more cases of human rights violations regarding bullying were dealt with last year compared with 2006, which had been a record year itself.

Most human rights violations in the report were the 4,937 instances of "violence or abuse," down 4.7 percent on 2006 and comprising 23 percent of all the 21,506 human rights cases. Women, children, the elderly or handicapped people were the victims in 85.5 percent of these cases of "violence or abuse."

There were 600 cases of human rights violations involving child abuse (up 12.4 percent); 4,120 cases "related to home and life safety" involving trouble with neighbors such as noise (down 2 percent); and 3,947 cases of "force or constraint" such as sexual harassment (down 25.7 percent).

Of these, the number of cases that involved human rights violations on the Internet was a record 418, up 48.2 percent.

(Mar. 29, 2008)