Childlike Sex Dolls

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:42): I rise to speak on my recent trip to Japan last month. I went to Japan to draw attention to the recent passage of my private member's bill with the effect that anyone found guilty of producing, disseminating or in possession of childlike sex dolls now faces a maximum of 10 years' imprisonment and to effect change in the places they are manufactured.

We know that these objects are predominantly manufactured in Japan and China, with Japan producing high-tech; realistic; completely customisable childlike sex dolls that, as I have previously said, can have a heartbeat, use artificial intelligence and programming to give verbal cues, track eye movement and assume sexual positions.

During that trip, I met with several non-government organisations advocating against child sexual abuse, child abuse material and child sexual exploitation in Japan. I met with Shihoko Fujiwara and Aiki Matsukara of Lighthouse: Center for Human Trafficking Victims; Junko Miyamoto, advocate with Kyofukai Japan, which is an affiliate of ECPAT/STOP Japan; and human rights lawyer Kazuko Ito of Human Rights Now.

These remarkable women are working in difficult circumstances with absolutely no government funding and are up against a system that does not view child abuse material in the same way we do. In fact, they were left gobsmacked when they heard about the extent of our laws here in regard to these same issues.

They all welcomed assistance from external sources and were grateful that an Australian politician was keen to support them and assist in any way to achieve legislative change with respect to child abuse and child exploitation laws in Japan. They are desperate for pressure to be exerted on the Japanese government in order to bring about meaningful change because, ultimately, child exploitation knows no borders.

It is a global problem heightened, of course, by modern technology, and we all have a critical role to play in stamping it out. There is much to be done. I advise members that up until 2014 child abuse material was completely legal in Japan—2014, that is just five years ago. Since the law changed, conviction rates remain low and sentencing is light, with paedophiles often receiving suspended sentences or fines—not sentences, but fines—and there are also a lot of exceptions to that as well.

Childlike sex dolls are legal in Japan as what can only be described as kiddie porn manga. Manga is Japanese animation and comics; kiddie porn manga drawings feature wide-eyed depictions of children from the pages of the manga books, childlike in stature but engaged in extremely explicit sexual activities. The content often involves shocking sexual scenes apparently involving minors.

I can say that during that trip I visited a number of sex shops in Japan and the content in those shops depicting children—and there was no question that they were depicting children—was extremely alarming. Some of the predominantly female characters in manga wear school uniforms, they have little hairclips and innocent expressions as they engage in sometimes very violent sex acts with dominant characters.

At the time of the 2014 changes to child pornography laws, lobbyists on behalf of the Japan Cartoonists Association argued that a total ban on explicit content would damage the entire industry, arguing that imaginary images, so unlike real child abuse, meant that no-one was actually hurt. However, the NGOs that we met with say that those images found on the pages of some of Japan's kiddie porn manga are so disturbing that they should be banned, and I agree wholeheartedly. They also said that the police have told them that they have interviewed thousands of paedophiles who have said that their predilection for children started with that kiddie porn manga.

A 2015 visit to Japan by the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, argued the same in her report in relation to kiddie porn manga. They acknowledged the challenge of finding the right balance between freedom of expression and child protection by concluding that material that depicts children as sexual objects and is created for the purpose of fulfilling sexual gratification must be considered as child pornography.

Noting that Japan will be at the centre of the world's attention with preparations for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, I express my hope that, like the UN's Special Rapporteur, the Japanese government will seize this opportunity—

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