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Japan is grappling with a growing social problem: married people who pretend to be single in order to date, a phenomenon known as "disguised singles." The trend has drawn particular alarm as cases of women becoming pregnant after being deceived have multiplied, prompting calls for criminal penalties against the perpetrators.
A support group for victims of disguised singles was established in Japan two years ago and has since received hundreds of consultations, according to Nittele News. An online survey of group members found that 42 of 207 respondents had experienced a pregnancy — including abortion, miscarriage or childbirth — as a result of being deceived.
For years, the problem was dismissed as a private matter or even blamed on the victims themselves. But as cases emerged of perpetrators using elaborate deception and victims suffering life-altering consequences, the issue has begun to be recognized as a serious social problem.
Nittele News reported the case of Mayu (a pseudonym), a woman in her 30s living in Tokyo.
Mayu was 17 weeks pregnant when her boyfriend told her the truth: he was married, had a child and had never divorced.
The man had told her before they began dating that he had been divorced once. When the couple decided to marry just two months into their relationship and filled out the marriage registration form, he checked the box for remarriage — all while deceiving Mayu.
When Mayu became pregnant after two years of dating and a year of fertility treatment, the man suddenly confessed that he was still married and had never divorced. Mayu gave birth to a daughter alone last year and filed a lawsuit against him.
The problem is that "disguised singles" fall into a legal gray area.
Under current Japanese law, such deception is not subject to criminal punishment. Even when victims win civil suits, damages are typically only in the hundreds of thousands of yen. Because no money was extorted and no assets were transferred, the conduct does not constitute marriage fraud.
In one case this April, a woman who met a man through a dating app became pregnant and suffered a miscarriage after being deceived. She sought 5.5 million yen (about $34,000) in damages, but the court ordered the man to pay only 1.1 million yen (about $6,800).
Shimaoka Mana, a professor at Osaka University's graduate school, said the law needs to be revised "so that criminal punishment can be applied to those who deceive others by pretending to be single."
yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com
