15% of hospitals in Japan report sexual abuse

The survey by the Children and Families Agency, the first of its kind, was conducted online between December 2025 and January 2026 to grasp the actual situation of sexual abuse by doctors, nurses and other staff against patients including children.

Of the 5,000 institutions surveyed, 1,113 gave valid responses.

The results of the survey were announced Tuesday.

Among the facilities that reported sexual abuse, 34.0 pct confirmed incidents involving physical contact, voyeurism and other acts. Those aged 19 to 39 accounted for 66.7 pct of the victims, while junior high and senior high school students made up 3.3 pct.

Many workers who committed abuse belonged to psychosomatic and psychiatry departments or internal medicine departments.

About half of the incidents occurred during one-on-one interactions between patients and staff.

A member of an expert panel at the Children and Families Agency said, "Patients may face difficulties distinguishing between necessary physical contact and sexual misconduct during medical treatment."

Some members called for preventive measures, such as the presence of a third person during medical treatment.

Between fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2025, a medical ethics council that advises the health minister imposed administrative penalties over 150 cases of sexual abuse by medical staff. Of the total, 82 involved doctors, 38 nurses and 22 dentists. Many incidents occurred in patient rooms or examination areas.

A new Japanese law on preventing sexual offenses against children will take effect December 25 this year, with a system requiring schools to check whether teachers and other staff personnel have sex crime records set to be introduced.

The law's supplementary resolution stipulates that a study will be conducted on whether to make medical institutions subject to the requirement under the check system.