Ask John: Is the UN Trying to Ban Hentai?

Question:
Does being a hentai fan mean that they don’t believe in human rights? Also, would the hentai ban have women who make BDSM yoai/straight hentai also be punished due to some women not liking a certain fetish of other women?

Answer:
Earlier this year the women’s advocacy organization Equality Now waged a political awareness campaign opposing Japanese computer games that depict rape in a favorable light. The effort succeeded in convincing Japan’s Ethics Organization of Computer Software (EOCS) ratings board to implement a de facto ban on the creation and distribution of commercial game software promoting, whether overtly or by implication, the victimization of women. The ban has caused Japanese game development companies including minori, VisualArts’ label Visual Antena, and Yuzusoft to block foreigners from accessing their websites. The ban is anticipated to possibly cause some specialty game development studios to go out of business. And the ban has spawned unconfirmed rumors of being responsible for a number of depressed game developers committing suicide. Probably an exaggeration, however as of last year Japan did have one of the developed world’s highest rates of annual suicide.

On July 23, 2009, the UN’s Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) conducted an interview with a delegation representing Japan. The primary issues discussed included recommendations for more specific language outlining the prohibition of gender discrimination in Japanese law, inadequate support for professional advancement for Japanese women, claims of insufficient reparation and acknowledgement of “comfort women” impressed into service during WWII, and the disturbing prominence of Japanese computer games that encourage rape and sexual abuse. Discussion during the UN committee meeting did not mention manga or anime. Among the UN panel’s 12 participants, only three inquired about pornographic video games. Finland representative Niklas Bruun asked what Japan was doing to curb the prevalence of objectionable Japanese video games. Chinese expert Zou Xiaoqiao accused Japan of inadequately emphasizing teen sex education that would counterbalance the influence of pornographic video games. Only Afghan representative Zohra Rasekh demanded that the promotion of sexual violence by Japanese video games should be stopped. By all means I don’t want to trivialize the importance of the statements and intentions of the CEDAW, but examination of the literal discussion of the meeting appears to have been vastly exaggerated by the otaku fan community that believes the United Nations has declared war on hentai. In response to the committee inquiries about rape games, the Japanese contingent stated that the Japanese government had already convened a study group to suggest policy directions. In my own personal and highly injudicious perspective, I interpret Japanese governmental claims of “establishing a committee” to be a polite means of setting aside politically distasteful topics indefinitely. Equality Now insisted upon the elimination of “rape games” in Japan. The Japanese government and PC game industry ostensibly complied. After the Japanese ban was already announced, the CEDAW mentioned its concern about the prevalence of “rape games” in Japan, to which the Japanese representatives said, basically, “We’re aware of it, and we’re thinking about it.”

More recently the CEDAW has issued a 13 page response to the recently released Japanese sixth periodic report on sexual discrimination. On the 8th page of the response, the CEDAW states:

…The Committee is concerned at the normalization of sexual violence in the State party as reflected by the prevalence of pornographic video games and cartoons featuring rape, gang rape, stalking and the sexual molestation of women and girls. The Committee notes with concern that these video games and cartoons fall outside the legal definition of child pornography in the Act Banning Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. The Committee strongly urges the State party to ban the sale of video games or cartoons involving rape and sexual violence against women which normalize and promote sexual violence against women and girls.

To re-emphasize, this demand for a ban has been made after Japan has already announced that a ban on “rape games” will take effect on October 1st. Fears that Japan is going to outlaw all erotica are drastically exaggerated. The United Nations has not demanded a ban on hentai. The UN’s CEDAW committee has requested a ban on specifically hentai material that depicts violence against women in a positive or normalizing light. The CEDAW is evidently not opposed to erotica depicting consensual sex, violence painted in a negative light, or depictions of male homosexuality.

I have no doubt that there are morally and mentally unbalanced individuals who enjoy Japanese erotic comics and anime who also have little respect for human dignity. However, the overwhelming majority of individuals who enjoy erotica are civilized, rational people that understand and respect the rules of society and the human rights of individuals. An affection for hentai doesn’t make you a horrendous monster. Japanese society, for decades, has operated under the assumption that its citizens have the rational composure to comprehend the difference between the treatment of imaginary characters and real human beings. That’s why there was little to no objection to the prevalence of rape games in Japan until foreigners found them offensive.

The EOCS ban on rape games is not a legal statute; it’s a voluntary industry regulation. The EOCS ban on rape games has not stipulated any punishments for developers or individuals that have created or worked on “rape games.” At the present time there is no “hentai ban,” nor any proposal for a hentai ban. And even if extreme measures did arise, so far the thrust of the international focus on Japanese erotica has strictly been limited to fictional depictions of the victimization of women, so there’s little reason to assume that the UN’s Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women would rally against Japanese pop media depictions of male homosexuality. I mean no offense, but in my own observation, the irony of a women’s organization repressing female Japanese artists from drawing erotica is a non-issue because it’s not happening and there’s little evidence to suggest that it will ever happen. Granted, there may be females employed at computer game studios that formerly produced rape games; they have been oppressed by the efforts of Equality Now and the CEDAW, but international efforts to eliminate Japanese rape games is not representative of a concerted effort by international women’s groups to stifle the creative expression of female Japanese artists.

Article revised September 1, 2009