Three former male soldiers have been found guilty by Japan's court of sexually assaulting a female colleague. The verdict comes after the 24-year-old victim, Rina Gonoi, put her story on YouTube last year, drawing international attention.
The men, however, denied the allegations and refused to admit the act as sexual assault.
The accused men Shutaro Shibuya, Akito Sekine, and Yusuke Kimezawa have been sentenced to two years in prison by the Fukushima district court. They sexually assaulted Gonoi during a military drill in 2021.
A former member of Japan’s self-defence forces (SDF), Gonoi, took the unusual step to pursue action against her abusers through the courts as speaking out against sexual violence in Japan is still taboo.
Gonoi said that she had complained to her superiors immediately about the assault but there was no action. She left SDF in June 2022.
After Gonoi went public and shared her harrowing experience, the defence ministry of Japan issued an apology to her and dismissed five men connected to the assault as well as disciplined four of them.
The men, Gonoi said, took the help of martial arts techniques and pinned her to the bed. They forced her legs apart and repeatedly pushed their crotches against her to simulate a sex act. Gonoi said the other men standing there watched and laughed at the incident.
Not the first case of its kind
While investigating Gonoi’s case, the defence ministry reported about 1,400 cases of sexual harassment and bullying targeting women and men. They also revealed that most of them had not been reported.
Japan passed a legislation in June and redefined rape. According to the new law, victims no longer have to prove that they tried to resist their attacker.
The stigma
After suing her attackers and the government in a separate civil case, Gonoi was immensely abused online. Talking about her grief, Gonoi said, “I was prepared for defamation, but it’s tough. At one point, the abuse was so bad that I didn't leave home for five days."
“There’s something wrong with Japan; people attack victims instead of perpetrators,” said Gonoi.