Japan's Military Looks for More Women After Harassment Claims
2024-05-24
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1Japan is undergoing its biggest military build-up since World War II.
2But it is struggling to fill its ranks with women.
3The Japanese military has faced a series of sexual harassment cases in recent years.
4The number of women who signed up to join the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) decreased by 12 percent in the year that ended in March 2023.
5The drop followed several years of notable growth.
6Some victims of harassment have said the culture within the military may prevent women from signing up.
7It has been nine months since the defense ministry promised to take serious measures.
8But it still has no plans to create a national system for reviewing anti-harassment training standards.
9The information comes from two defense ministry officials responsible for training.
10An independent group of experts had recommended that the defense ministry create such a system.
11The government-appointed group identified in a report published in August that the military provided poor harassment education.
12The training made only limited mention of sexual harassment. There was also a lack of oversight of such training.
13One servicewoman is taking legal action against the government over an alleged sexual harassment incident.
14She said in an interview that the education she received over the past 10 years was ineffective.
15Women make up just 9 percent of military service members in Japan.
16In the United States, by comparison, 17 percent of military service members are women.
17The defense ministry told Reuters reporters that it has held harassment prevention talks by outside experts since 2023.
18It did not respond to questions about whether it would take the independent group's recommendation to provide oversight of training.
19Rina Gonoi is a former solider.
20She went public with allegations of sexual abuse in 2022.
21After she came forward, the defense ministry found more than 170 alleged sexual harassment incidents in the SDF.
22Another alleged victim was an Okinawa-based servicewoman.
23She accused a senior official of making sexual comments toward her in 2013.
24She was then publicly named in harassment training materials given to her colleagues in 2014, she told Reuters.
25The person who allegedly made the sexual comments, however, was not identified in the materials.
26Reuters does not name alleged victims of sexual harassment.
27Her allegations were supported by documents in the legal action she filed last year.
28The defense ministry offers yearly online training on general harassment.
29It also provides training materials to officers for in-person sessions.
30But it does not follow how or when the officers carry out harassment training, the two defense officials said.
31In April, Reuters attended a harassment prevention course given to over 100 mid-ranking military officers at a base outside Tokyo.
32Instructor Keiko Yoshimoto presented harassment as a communication problem.
33She centered discussions on generational differences.
34"Generational differences make it hard for people to communicate," she said.
35She added that military service people must understand the basics of communication before they can fully understand sexual harassment.
36Gonoi and the Okinawa-based servicewoman have criticized the system as ineffective.
37"People would say 'everyone put up with that kind of behavior, it was normal back in our time,' - but these issues are being passed down to my generation because nothing was done to stop it," the servicewoman told Reuters in March.
38The defense ministry officials said that training on sexual harassment mostly takes place within a larger anti-harassment course.
39At the two-hour training session that Reuters attended, about two minutes were related to sexual harassment.
40The defense ministry officials said it was difficult to give standardized training on harassment.
41That is because service members in high-stress environments may give orders in a direct way that is unusual in other environments, they said.
42The two officers said there were concerns within the military that too much attention on harassment could create operational issues.
43One officer suggested it might lead to unfair complaints.
44I'm Dan Novak
1Japan is undergoing its biggest military build-up since World War II. But it is struggling to fill its ranks with women. 2The Japanese military has faced a series of sexual harassment cases in recent years. The number of women who signed up to join the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) decreased by 12 percent in the year that ended in March 2023. The drop followed several years of notable growth. 3Some victims of harassment have said the culture within the military may prevent women from signing up. 4It has been nine months since the defense ministry promised to take serious measures. But it still has no plans to create a national system for reviewing anti-harassment training standards. The information comes from two defense ministry officials responsible for training. 5An independent group of experts had recommended that the defense ministry create such a system. The government-appointed group identified in a report published in August that the military provided poor harassment education. The training made only limited mention of sexual harassment. There was also a lack of oversight of such training. 6One servicewoman is taking legal action against the government over an alleged sexual harassment incident. She said in an interview that the education she received over the past 10 years was ineffective. 7Women make up just 9 percent of military service members in Japan. In the United States, by comparison, 17 percent of military service members are women. 8The defense ministry told Reuters reporters that it has held harassment prevention talks by outside experts since 2023. It did not respond to questions about whether it would take the independent group's recommendation to provide oversight of training. 9Rina Gonoi is a former solider. She went public with allegations of sexual abuse in 2022. After she came forward, the defense ministry found more than 170 alleged sexual harassment incidents in the SDF. 10Another alleged victim was an Okinawa-based servicewoman. She accused a senior official of making sexual comments toward her in 2013. She was then publicly named in harassment training materials given to her colleagues in 2014, she told Reuters. The person who allegedly made the sexual comments, however, was not identified in the materials. 11Reuters does not name alleged victims of sexual harassment. Her allegations were supported by documents in the legal action she filed last year. 12Ineffective training 13The defense ministry offers yearly online training on general harassment. It also provides training materials to officers for in-person sessions. But it does not follow how or when the officers carry out harassment training, the two defense officials said. 14In April, Reuters attended a harassment prevention course given to over 100 mid-ranking military officers at a base outside Tokyo. 15Instructor Keiko Yoshimoto presented harassment as a communication problem. She centered discussions on generational differences. 16"Generational differences make it hard for people to communicate," she said. She added that military service people must understand the basics of communication before they can fully understand sexual harassment. 17Gonoi and the Okinawa-based servicewoman have criticized the system as ineffective. 18"People would say 'everyone put up with that kind of behavior, it was normal back in our time,' - but these issues are being passed down to my generation because nothing was done to stop it," the servicewoman told Reuters in March. 19Fear of complaints 20The defense ministry officials said that training on sexual harassment mostly takes place within a larger anti-harassment course. At the two-hour training session that Reuters attended, about two minutes were related to sexual harassment. 21The defense ministry officials said it was difficult to give standardized training on harassment. That is because service members in high-stress environments may give orders in a direct way that is unusual in other environments, they said. 22The two officers said there were concerns within the military that too much attention on harassment could create operational issues. One officer suggested it might lead to unfair complaints. 23I'm Dan Novak 24Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by Reuters. 25_________________________________________________ 26Words in This Story 27review - v. an act of carefully looking at or examining the quality or condition of something or someone 28standard - n. a level of quality, achievement, etc., that is considered acceptable or desirable 29oversight - n. the act or job of directing work that is being done 30alleged - adj. accused of having done something wrong or illegal but not yet proven guilty 31interview - n. a meeting at which people talk to each other in order to ask questions and get information 32respond - v. to say or write something as an answer to a question or request