Equality Now I

Dear sir/madam,

I am writing to express my serious concern about the sale in Japan of computer games such as RapeLay, produced by Illusion Software, which involve rape and sexual violence against women.

Japan has an obligation under Article 5(a) of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) “to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.” Representations of women as objects of sex and/or violence have a great impact on negative gender stereotypes, as accepted by the Japanese government during Japan’s last periodic review by the CEDAW Committee. Article 14 of the Japanese Constitution also guarantees equality under the law and states that there shall be no “discrimination in political, economic or social relations because of race, creed, sex, social status or family origin.”

I would therefore respectfully urge the Japanese government to comply with its obligations under CEDAW by promoting positive images of women as equal members of society, by establishing measures and policies to eliminate all discrimination against women and particularly by banning the sale of computer games such as RapeLay which normalize and promote sexual violence against women and girls.

Thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,
XXXXXXXXX