Japan’s Self-Defense Forces have got some unexpected defending on their hands, thanks to a sex-crazed sergeant with too much interest in privates’ parts, according to Asahi Geino (5/28).
Air Self-Defense Force Sergeant Yuya Abe (a pseudonym) has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by a 21-year-old airman, Hiroko Uehara (not her real name, either), who says her superior tried to rape her at the ASDF base in Tobetsu, Hokkaido in September last year.
Uehara is also suing the government, demanding compensation of 110 million yen.
Uehara says Abe was on night sentry duty on Sept. 9 last year when he called the base’s women’s dormitory and asked for a particular woman service member. Uehara answered the phone and when she told Abe that the woman wasn’t around, the sergeant ordered her to present himself at his post.
Facing insubordination charges if she disobeyed, Uehara had no option other than to present herself to the sergeant as ordered. But when she did, Abe threw her down onto a sofa, ripped off her shirt and panties, then fondled her buttocks and private parts. He came within an inch of inserting his penis, but Uehara managed to fight him off until he finally collapsed, drunken and exhausted after assailing her for 90 minutes, the men’s weekly says.
Military journalist Shinichi Kiyotani says female members of the SDF face rampant sexual harassment.
“You often hear stories that whenever there’s some sort of party, the female members are expected to give their male counterparts slow dances, go out drinking and generally be treated like nightclub hostesses,” Kiyotani tells Asahi Geino. “This case has probably also arisen because there are no hostess bars or knocking shops located near the base.”
Uehara’s case is not abhorrent simply because of what Abe is accused of doing, though. It actually strikes at the core of the SDF’s handling of women.
Immediately after the incident, Uehara made requests to several superiors officers that she be transferred to a post where she would not have to come into contact with Abe. Each request was refused. The superiors all continued to support Abe and when Uehara continued to complain, she was recommended to apply for a discharge.
Hirofumi Sato, Uehara’s lawyer, is furious.
“If somebody commits sexual harassment at a normal company, they’d be dealt with immediately, but in the male-dominated Self-Defense Forces, the organization comes first and foremost. Something like a sexual harassment case is not going to be allowed to stand in the way of what the organization sees as the bigger picture,” the lawyer tells Asahi Geino. “There are lots of SDF bases in Hokkaido and they are rife with problems like bullying and sexual harassment. Most of these cases don’t come to the surface because they’re mainly problems solved with hush money forked out in agreements made behind closed doors.” (By Ryann Connell)
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