Human Rights Now, June 28, 2024 Japan
Human Rights Council Oral Statement against Sexual Violence in the Entertainment Industry in Japan
Child rights, sexual violence, UN Activity
On 26 June 2024, Mr. Akimasa Nihongi, a former child victim of sexual assault by the talent agency CEO Johnny Kitagawa, gave an oral statement at the Human Rights Council in Geneva expressing the need for governments and companies in the entertainment industry, and the government of Japan and Smile-Up (the successor to Kitagawa’s agency) in particular, to take effective measures to protect children from assault and to protect victims coming forward from online slander and harassment.
A transcript of the oral statement follows the video below and is also available here in PDF format. The video comes from the UN video streaming site here, and Mr. Nihongi’s presentation begins at 26:09.
Following the oral statement, Mr. Nihongi participated in a press conference in Geneva, where he went into more detail about the challenges that victims of sexual assault face in Japan. A video of the press conference follows the transcript below.
