Mental health social worker Akiyoshi Saito explains that "the sense of value from the perspective of male supremacy and misogyny is common among people who can't stop secret filming," in the city of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture. (Mainichi/Ai Kunimoto)

       TOKYO -- A mental health social worker involved in the treatment of repeat sex offenders recently published a book whose title translates to "Men who can't stop taking sneak footage." The author, Akiyoshi Saito, 42, analyzed the motives of 521 men who illicitly filmed people in secret. He said his research found that many were influenced by Japan's "homosocial, male-dominated society." The Mainichi Shimbun looked into the matter.

       Saito works at Ofuna Enomoto Clinic in the city of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, and was in charge of helping alcoholics recover when he got a job there about 20 years ago.

       One day, a man in his 50s, whom Saito had helped for three years, was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault on a child. He was shocked to learn that the man had repeated similar crimes in the past.

       Saito came to the realization that sex crimes, like alcohol, can become addictions and that treatment is necessary to prevent recidivism. But at the time, there was no specialized institution offering such treatment in Japan. In May 2006, Saito established a treatment group at the clinic after consulting his boss. By March 2020, over 2,000 people who took sneak footage, groped others or sexually assaulted children had been examined.

       From his experience, Saito says camera voyeurism is "a problem unique to men almost 100% of the time."

       Of the 521 men who took sneak footage, 70% began to take such images in their teens and 20s. Some of them mentioned having the experience of being accepted by male friends by doing so in their childhood days. In one case a male student who took a shot of a female classmate in secret was praised by other boys as being "awesome" and "brave," and this escalated to taking upskirt photos. Saito deems such case as examples of "baptism to join a homosocial, male-dominated society."

       Twenty percent of the men experienced being bullied as a child. One man apparently told Saito, "To get back for how much I was hurt, I thought it was my turn to treat others badly." The mental health social worker explained, "Men who are expelled from the homosocial, male-dominated society by getting bullied or by other means have experienced being treated like an object. The person tries to restore his self-esteem by objectifying women."

       Saito says the characteristic of camera voyeurism is that it "objectifies and owns women," and is a crime that involves a desire for control and a sense of superiority.

       Analyzing the situation, he says that the homosocial, male-dominated society entrenched in Japan as well as the sense of value from male supremacy and misogyny are tied to the "cognitive distortion" that is common in sex offenders. Cognitive distortion can cause people to inaccurately perceive reality in a way that suits their needs, such as thinking that "women who wear skirts want to be groped or have their pictures taken in secret."

       The cover of the book "Tosatsu wo yamerarenai otokotachi," which roughly translates to "Men who can't stop taking sneak footage," is seen.

       At the clinic, Saito works on "cognitive behavioral therapy" with patients to make sex offenders including those who have committed secret filming become aware of their cognitive distortion, think together about what's necessary to prevent recidivism, and promote changes in their behavior. He said, "Cognitive distortion is something that's acquired in society. No one is born with a distorted view. While living in a homosocial, male-dominated society, all men have the potential to become a perpetrator."

       Since 2006, the Ministry of Justice has introduced measures such as launching a "sex offender treatment program" at some prisons to prevent repeated offenses. It targets people who have been convicted of rape and other sex crimes and have been put on probation or imprisoned. According to the results of a survey released in 2020, the recidivism rate within three years of release for participants in the treatment program stood at 15%, lower than the 22.5% among others who were not in the program.

       But while there are penal provisions for camera voyeurism under prefectural governments' ordinances banning people from creating a public nuisance, as well as for "peeping" under the Minor Offenses Act, it is not uncommon for first offenders to avoid prosecution or walk away with summary order fines. In a special investigation in the 2015 white paper on crime, the recidivism rate within five years of release was as high as 36.4%.

       Saito stressed, "Most people who commit secret filming are not eligible for the treatment program. A mechanism needs to be created in which a person who is arrested even once can receive treatment."

       (Japanese original by Ai Kunimoto, Tokyo City News Department)

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