Asahi News : Tokyo mulls ban on sex for kids

Tokyo plans to cool off the lusty activities of children in the capital.

The Tokyo metropolitan government is considering an ordinance that would ban sexual intercourse among children of junior high school age and younger, officials said Wednesday.

The ban is being discussed by a panel set up to brainstorm ways of curbing sexually transmitted diseases and abortions among minors. Officials say youngsters are ignorant of the risks of sexual activity.
``The purpose of setting an age limit is not to regulate but to protect children who do not know the meaning of sexual intercourse and the risks associated with it.''

Experts at Wednesday's meeting reportedly discussed other options, including parents' responsibility to educate their children about the dangers involved with sex.
This will also create additonal protection against "enjo kosai" (teenage prostitution), as chidlren under 15 won't be able to enter love hotels, although this is, as usual in Japan, only theoretical, as nobody checks and the love hotel staff has no eye contact with the customers when giving the room's key - and therefore cannot see how old they look like.

I think the second reason (protecting children from STD's and undesired pregnancies) is good enough to make this new law. But the problem of enforcing it remains a major drawback. Nobody can check what happens in homes, and as I mentioned above, not even in love hotels, except if the system of anonymousness is changed.