World

Japan’s military needs change, sexually assaulted ex-soldier says

2023.12.13 05:26

3/3

© Reuters. Rina Gonoi, a former member of Japan Self-Defense Forces, who has accused colleagues of sexually assaulting her during her time in the military, speaks to the media at the Fukushima District Court in Fukushima, Japan December 12, 2023, in this photo taken

2/3

By Sakura Murakami

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s military will need sweeping changes to root out harassment, ex-soldier Rina Gonoi said on Wednesday, a day after a Japanese court found three of her former colleagues guilty of sexually assaulting her.

“I don’t want to tear down the Self-Defence Forces, but it’s exactly because I am so grateful to them that I want to see fundamental change,” Gonoi, 24, said at a news conference in Tokyo.

Gonoi decided to join Japan’s Self-Defence Forces after receiving aid from them as an evacuee when a massive earthquake struck the northeast coast of Japan in March 2011.

She quit the force, however, after officers initially ignored her complaint over an incident in 2021 when she was pinned down by three male colleagues who simulated a sex act on her.

Tuesday’s verdict in the Fukushima District Court north of Tokyo marks a key victory in Gonoi’s hard-fought battle for justice, which began when she went public with her accusations in 2022 – a rare move in Japan’s conservative society where speaking out against sexual violence has remained largely taboo.

“I didn’t want to pretend it didn’t happen,” she said.

A lawyer representing the defendants said immediately after the ruling that they would carefully review the verdict and had not yet decided whether to appeal against it, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 97,909.23 1.10%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,424.05 4.05%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.07%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 255.49 0.32%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 653.68 4.46%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.48 1.58%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.428273 6.81%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.05%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 1.06 8.20%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,424.06 4.00%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.211981 4.02%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 41.71 2.32%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 6.31 15.19%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000026 3.02%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.495084 44.09%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 4,049.69 3.73%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 97,474.12 1.38%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 8.60 34.33%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 17.57 13.50%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 504.23 2.92%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,425.71 4.03%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.43 1.08%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000021 1.03%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.63 1.32%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.16 7.33%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 98.87 9.16%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 12.62 4.04%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 10.73 14.16%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,601.74 3.78%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.151772 4.11%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.200595 5.77%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 11.37 6.86%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.82%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.574332 19.49%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 29.77 6.32%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.74 5.96%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.154459 2.18%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 519.04 4.89%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.06%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.42 14.80%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000048 1.99%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.87274 12.01%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.77 0.46%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.04%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.041789 23.25%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.73 3.98%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.52 14.43%
dogwifcoin
dogwifhat (WIF) $ 3.25 4.01%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 8.26 12.58%
celestia
Celestia (TIA) $ 7.26 33.12%