Three officers in Japan have been convicted of sexual harassment. An ex-soldier had made her story public – a taboo. As a result, many more cases came to light.
With their current decision, the judges at the district court in Fukushima have revised their own earlier ruling. They had previously acquitted the three officers of the Self-Defense Force, the official title of the Japanese army, of sexual harassment. But after former soldier Rina Gonoi shared her story on YouTube and there was an international outcry, prosecutors reopened the case and now found the officers guilty.
Complaints were initially ignored
The three men, who have always denied what they did, sexually harassed and humiliated the 24-year-old soldier in a vile manner in 2021. While she was lying on the ground, other soldiers were said to have stood around her and laughed. Several of the young woman’s complaints went unheard. She left the army and started a petition that forced the Defense Department to launch a general investigation into sexual harassment.
More than 100 additional attacks came to light. But there could be many more, because making sexual assaults public is still taboo in Japan. Those affected are more likely to be insulted; former soldier Gonoi even reported death threats.
Kathrin Erdmann, ARD Tokio, tagesschau, December 12, 2023 2:00 p.m