Groping insurance may not exist in Australia, but sales have taken off in Japan.
Train travel can often become an ordeal for women in Japan, with sexual assault and harassment not uncommon on public transport. In response, male commuters are taking out insurance to protect themselves in case they are falsely accused.
For 6,400 yen ($77), customers can purchase a ‘false groping accusation benefit’ plan as a spate of incidents in the country have seen men suspected of molesting female passengers flee the scene along railway tracks.
Browse and compare insurance product listings against Sexual Harassment from specialty market providers here
Around 50 policies a month have been sold in the past several years, which has now spiralled to several hundred in the last month alone.
The plan, devised and sold by the Small Amount and Short Term Insurance company, covers legal costs for policyholders who find themselves fronting a false charge, The Daily Mail reported.
“It is impossible to know whether one will be caught up in a groping incident,” company president Shoji Sugimoto told the Mainichi. “We are here to provide help to people who feel anxious about the issue.”
Originally set-up in 2015, the policy was a fringe benefit that included cover for fees of any legal consultation, including domestic or traffic incidents, but a helpline service set-up by the firm – which alerted lawyers practising in the vicinity of a groping incident – proved to be a big hit with customers.
In Japan, approximately 1,800 arrests are made each year under public nuisance laws.
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