Human rights and sexual abuse: The impact of international human rights law on Japan

This article examines three major recent human rights issues in Japan relating to sexual behavior, and the measures taken to remedy them. It finds that although international human rights law and norms played a major role in each of these episodes, the influence of international law has been uneven. To explain this variation, the article focuses on the domestic balance of power in Japan and identifies three significant factors: (I) shared common interests between pro-human rights constituencies and their political opponents; (2) consensual decisionmaking; and (3) transnational coalition-building through international conferences.