Japan weighs lifting age of consent for sex from 13 to 16

A pedestrian walking in front of the old Ministry of Justice building, part of the ministry's headquarters, in Tokyo. - A Japanese justice ministry panel proposed Feb 17 hiking the country's century-old age of consent, currently among the world's lowest at just 13, as part of a major overhaul of sex crime legislation. - AFP

TOKYO (AFP): A Japanese justice ministry panel on Friday (Feb 17) proposed raising the country's age of consent, currently among the world's lowest at just 13, as part of a major overhaul of sex crime legislation.

The move to raise the age of consent to 16 is part of a package of reforms that would also clarify rape prosecution requirements and criminalise voyeurism.