Japan’s military has covered up cases of sexual and other forms of harassment among members of the self-defence forces (SDF) and refused to take allegations seriously, according to a report that sheds light on widespread abuse in the armed forces.
A panel of experts formed in response to a high-profile case in 2022 said it was aware of 1,325 cases of harassment targeting women and men, adding that more than 60% of victims had not reported them.
Its report said most victims did not trust the way the SDF and defence ministry handled complaints, or feared retribution if they spoke out.
About 80% of the reported cases involved abuse of power, with sexual harassment accounting for about 12%. The panel also found cases of maternity harassment targeting women who took time off before and after giving birth, according to Japanese media.
In findings that are expected to intensify criticism of the way in which the SDF and the ministry handle harassment complaints, the panel said most of the 400 people who had sought advice said they had not received proper help, with some claiming they had been pressured into dropping their complaints.
Some of those who had decided not to complain said they were not confident that reaching out to counsellors would resolve their problem. Others said they did not know who to talk to, while some cited an atmosphere that was “not conducive” to consultation or said they feared being targeted by “whistleblower hunters”, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said.
The investigation was triggered by allegations from a former SDF member that she had been repeatedly assaulted by several servicemen, forcing her to abandon her career.
Rina Gonoi, a former member of the ground SDF, first filed a complaint in 2021 but the defence ministry dropped her case, saying there was insufficient evidence.
After Gonoi publicly demanded that her complaints be reinvestigated, SDF officials in September 2022 acknowledged her mistreatment and apologised. Four of the five perpetrators personally apologised to Gonoi a month later. The ministry dismissed five servicemen at the end of 2022 and punished four others.
Gonoi, who has since filed a damages suit against her five alleged assailants and the government, said she had been harassed on a daily basis after joining the SDF in 2020. She said she had been slapped on the backside or held from behind while walking along the hallway, adding that other servicemen had kissed her on the cheek or grabbed her breasts.
The panel’s report urged the ministry and the SDF, which has about 230,000 service personnel, to raise awareness of harassment and appraise how officials in supervisory positions handle complaints.
“Harassment should never be allowed to occur as it causes loss of mutual trust among members of the defence ministry and the SDF, where unit cohesion is the foundation for all operations,” it said. “It is intolerable for them to fail to take appropriate action.”
Satoshi Mikai, head of the defence ministry’s staffing and education bureau, said the ministry would take steps based on the report’s recommendations to “create an organisation that does not tolerate harassment”.
Gonoi’s decision to go public prompted other SDF soldiers to report sexual and other forms of harassment. Some former and serving personnel have filed damages claims against the government, saying their cases had been covered up or mishandled.
“If this were just about me, I might have stopped, but I carry on my shoulders the hopes of so many others, so I feel I have to do my best,” Gonoi said in an interview with Agence France-Presse earlier this year.
