More men in Japan are getting an insurance policy that will protect them in case of getting false accusations against groping. Insurance companies have noted the significant increase among takers of the $57 “false groping accusation benefit” plan.
The increase in the said insurance policy benefit was triggered by a series of incidents where men suspected of molesting female commuters resort to fleeing the scene along the railway tracks. The Japanese government has initiated efforts to address the problem of rush-hour sexual assaults or abuses by placing posters on trains and conducting television campaigns on the matter. Railway operators have also since provided for women-only carriages for rush hours where the number of commuters also rise.
The plan devised by the Small Amount and Short Term insurance company in 2015, however, covers only legal costs for policy-holders who find themselves falsely accused. It was initially set up to offer fringe benefit under which fees for any legal consultation, including domestic or traffic accidents, were covered.
It has proven to be such a hit, however, where previously contracts for the policy only stood at less than 50 a month have soared to several hundred in the past month.
The insurance company president Shoji Sugimoto said: “It is impossible to know whether one will be caught up in a groping incident. We are here to provide help to people who feel anxious about the issue."
Around 1,800 arrests are made yearly under public nuisance laws. In 2006, however, a professor at the National Defense Medical College appealed his conviction all the way to the Supreme Court and had his conviction - and 22-month prison sentence – later overturned.
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