2019 Volume 60 Issue 3 Pages 63-75
Because sexual violence is interpreted in Japan as “violence against women,” this study aims to examine why sexually aggressive acts by women against men are marginalized. Evidence of female-initiated sexually aggressive behavior were collected through data from sexual violence studies involving female university students in the United States and Canada. Findings showed that female perpetrators of rape are by no means a rare phenomenon. Using the gender theory of Judith Butler, this study found that male perpetrators and female victims are constructed as the norm for rape in Japan. Applying the symbolic law of sex to sexual violence, female perpetrators are marginalized and deemed as “illegitimate perpetrators.” This view of sexual violence creates a hierarchy of harm based on the sex of both the victim and the perpetrator, leading to the neglect of female perpetrators as study subjects. It is necessary to study the construction of sexual violence as a social problem and how it shapes the social support system for male victims in the social welfare field. Studying sexually aggressive women is crucial, as the notion that such women are nonexistent perpetuates a rape myth that impedes the recognition and support of male victims.
