The same survey found that 54.3 per cent of women reported having been inappropriately touched on public transport, a figure that remains far higher than for men but has long been the focus of official countermeasures.
Experts say the 15.1 per cent figure for male victims is particularly striking, challenging assumptions that sexual molestation on crowded trains overwhelmingly affects women and girls.
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“I am very surprised by the 15 per cent figure because similar surveys in the past by the Japanese government about people’s experiences on public transport have consistently reported much lower figures, usually around 5 per cent and never above 10 per cent,” said Takayuki Harada, a professor at the University of Tsukuba’s Institute of Human Sciences.
The findings come from the latest survey conducted by the Tokyo metropolitan government as part of efforts launched in 2023 to better understand the scale of sexual assaults on public transport.
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Earlier surveys had suggested that around 20 per cent of women and fewer than 10 per cent of men had experienced groping, marking a sharp increase for both genders.