‘Groping Insurance’ To Tackle False Molestation Claims In Japan

A newly-formulated £45 policy that protects Japanese men from false accusations of groping on trains has sparked outrage in the country. The policy -- “false groping accusation benefit" -- has been launched by a Japanese insurance company which has claimed that it has several takers among men who are fearful of wrongful prosecution.

The scheme was invented by Tokyo-based Small Amount and Short Term Insurance company in 2015. It usually files around 50 monthly applications for a 6,400 yen (£45) policy that covers legal fees of people who are wrongly charged.

"It is impossible to know whether one will be caught in a groping incident," company president Shoji Sugimoto told Japan's Mainichi newspaper.

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"We are here to provide help to people who feel anxious about the issue," he added.

The issue of sex pests on trains came to the fore after two men were killed while trying to escape after being accused of molesting women on packed trains.

An argument doing the rounds on social media states that the insurance is to save young men of Japan from false groping charges as women try to profit from the law. This happens because the criminal justice system famously convicts 99% of those indicted.

Others are demanding a men’s-only carriage in the train just as women have a women’s-only to end the problem. Special female-only train carriages came to Tokyo in 2000 as a solution to the growing number of crimes happening against women at that time.

In the country, a total of 1,800 arrests are made ever year under public nuisance laws. There have been reports of several men running away from train stations in Tokyo in recent months after being accused of molestation.

Picture credit- Japan Info