Three former Japanese soldiers were found guilty on Tuesday (December 12) of committing sexual harassment against a female soldier and were handed prison sentences, although the sentences were suspended. The survivor, Rina Junoi, broke multiple taboos in a culturally conservative country like Japan, where survivors of sexual assaults are reluctant to come forward publicly. The fact that the “MeToo” movement has not gained momentum in Japan compared to other countries is indicative of this.
The Incident and Initial Denial of Justice
The assault on Rina Junoi occurred in August 2021. Three soldiers held Rina Junoi down on a bed and opened her legs, alternately pressing their genitals against her. She had previously told the media that about ten other soldiers were present but none intervened to stop the three soldiers from committing sexual harassment. She said some onlookers even laughed. Rina Junoi reported the sexual assault to the chain of command, but her complaint was dismissed for lack of any witnesses. The three men were sent to prosecutors by the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) police unit, but the case was ultimately dropped for lack of evidence. Rina Junoi left the military. She recorded a video and posted it on YouTube describing what she went through. Her story garnered significant attention, and the video spread widely online. Rina Junoi was able to collect over 100,000 signatures for a petition requesting the Japanese Ministry of Defense to open an investigation into her case. This led to the ministry’s apology and a rare investigation revealing that there were more than 100 complaints of harassment within the ministry itself.
Threats and Harassment
Now that the defendants in Rina Junoi’s case have been convicted and punished, it’s very tempting to view the whole episode as an inspiring story. It indeed is, but it should also be noted that in order to achieve justice, Rina Junoi had to navigate a path fraught with obstacles at every step. When her video went viral and her story reached many people in Japan, Rina Junoi faced online harassment and received death threats. She said, “Some people say ‘you’re ugly’… [and others] say ‘are you really a man?’” When I was gathering signatures for the petition, I received a threatening message saying, ‘I will kill you if you go any further.’ During her time in the military, she said she was harassed “daily” even before the August 2021 incident. Male colleagues would touch her or rub their bodies against hers. Such behavior by male colleagues was a recurring occurrence for Rina Junoi, who joined the military because it was her childhood dream.
Strengthening the Law
The Rina Junoi case is the first prominent case after Japan strengthened its rape laws in June of this year. The laws redefined rape, expanding the definition to cover a broader range of cases. The requirement for the victim to prove that she resisted her attacker was removed. In Japan, survivors of sexual assaults are rarely willing to speak out publicly. “While there are areas for improvement (within society), the ruling today is a welcome sign that the voices of survivors of sexual violence in Japan will not go unheard and that accountability for such human rights violations is possible,” said Tepi Kasai, Asia program officer at Human Rights Watch. This was reported by the French news agency.
Kasai noted last week that a government survey from 2021 revealed that only about six percent of victims of sexual assault, whether male or female, actually turned to the police.
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