To Japanese translation

On April 27th, 2003, an intoxicated 18 year old girl was gang raped by 13 men on a Ropponggi district fire escape in Tokyo. All assailants belonged to 'Super Free,' a social club affiliated with Waseda University. When they finished on the fire escape, the attackers loaded their victim into a car, drove her to the Toshima-ward residence of club president Wada, Shinichiro, and gang raped her again. The victim remained silent until a similar attack perpetrated by the same group became news later that year. When she finally went to the police, the girl found herself to be one of over a dozen young women with claims of victimization from Wada and fellow club members. Estimates from further investigation place the actual number of gang rapes orchestrated by Wada at over 500 since becoming president of the club in 1995.

All Super Free assaults were orchestrated according to a club manual. Members distracted friends of a selected young woman while others separated her from the group. During assaults, look-outs dissuaded intrusion while attackers intimidated victims into smiling for photographs. As gang rapes progressed, members exchanged duties so they could take turns in the violation. The girls were later e-mailed pictures from their attack accompanied by threats of Internet publication if police were contacted. Most were convinced that their smiling pictures would dissuade courts from a guilty plea, and that they would be further and more publicly humiliated.

Victims of Super Free were not unreasonable in their fear of public reaction. Media reports of the court case rarely mentioned details of the assaults. Club criteria for selection of prey was consistently published. Girls were chosen by the perpetrators for being "unworldly," "bumpkins" from "rural areas." They attended parties in the hopes of finding a boyfriend "from a prestigious University" and were, "out of their league." A week after members of the club were arrested, long standing Liberal Democratic Party politician Ota, Seiichi made reference to the case on the floor of the Diet, joking that it was a relief to find virile males in a country with such a drastically declining birth rate. About a week later, Ota's cohort in the LDP, and Chief Cabinet Secretary at the time, Fukuda, Yasuo offered his own thoughts on sexual assault by casually observing, "There are women who look like they are saying, 'Do it to me...' Those who have that kind of appearance are at fault, because men are black panthers." Fukuda is the former Minister for Gender Equality. With such shameless, public lack of sympathy for individuals who had already suffered so much, it is easy to see why reports of rape declined more than 10% in Japan from 2003 to 2004.

Secondary victimization occurs in the aftermath of a crime. Individuals are denied assistance or support from advocates because they are blamed for the circumstances surrounding their suffering. Secondary victimization often occurs in direct contact with the victim, especially in the form of disregard or insensitivity from police, social workers, family and teachers. It leaves people feeling powerless, alone and guilty. The type of attention the Super Free trial received from politicians and members of the press is a prevalent example of secondary victimization. For women in Japan however, the most difficult prejudices are notoriously ingrained in the criminal justice system.

When I discussed issues of sexual violence with homeroom teachers from three High Schools in the Kumamoto area, they uniformly stated that they would encourage a student who had been raped to keep such an experience secret. The difficulties in proving rape cases, combined with the social pressures involved with its exposure are considered too heavy a burden for students to endure. Employees from my local hospital stated that if a woman came for examination to collect D.N.A. evidence and check for the possibility of STDs following a rape, the procedure would be considered a request, and thus would not be covered under the national health insurance plan. A survey of sexual assault victims in Japan from the early 1970s suggested that as many as 32.5% of reporting women withdrew charges because they began to feel responsible for their attacks. Almost 40 years later, of the dozen or so women brave enough to report their Super Free assault to police, only three filed official complaints required to prosecute rape in Japan.

For his part in the three Super Free gang rapes officially reported to authorities, Wada received a sentence of fourteen years in prison; one year short of the maximum penalty because of "Social Considerations," from the court. Twelve men in addition to Wada were also charged and convicted for their parts in the assaults. Five of the assailants received sentences of less than three years. In the wake of public outcry over the low sentencing, Japan's Diet successfully raised the minimum penalty for rape from two to three years, and introduced a minimum sentence of 4 years for gang rape. It is a shame members of Super Free did not steal televisions and home entertainment systems from intoxicated college girls. Robbery is easier to prove than sexual assault, and with a minimum penalty of five years, conviction is already more punitive than the Diet's new improved rape laws.

A recent poll of high school girls from the Tokyo and Kyushu areas by the Asian Women's Fund estimates 5.3% of High School girls in Japan have been raped. Japan's 2004 census report calculates the number of 15-19 year old girls at around 3,295,000. High School is three years in Japan, so 60% of that number is 1,977,000. 5.3% of that number, 104,781 gives us the rough number of high school girls that can be assumed raped at any given time according to the two organization's numbers. Divide that number by three, and we get an estimate of 34,927 school girls raped per year in Japan. The government funded organization also reported an additional 13% of High School girls experience attempted rape. The total number of rapes reported for all demographics in 2003 was 2,472. In 2004 the number dropped to 2,176.

The percentage of High School girls raped annually that go to the police is obviously low. Seventy percent of the cases from the Asian Women's Fund survey occurred in the homes of the victim or the attacker. Because such cases do not fit the model of a "classic rape," they are far less likely to be reported. If reported, they are less likely to be acknowledged as rape. A classic rape occurs when the victim is assaulted by a stranger in a deserted public area. It is the most prominent scenario depicted in movies and the news. Because of the classic rape stereotype, individuals assisting victims of sexual assault are more likely to sympathize with cases which mirror that model. Classic rape is also the most uncommon of rape scenarios, following acquaintance rape, spousal rape and incest.

Of all rape scenarios, spousal rape receives the least attention. As with incest, the victim is tied to the perpetrator legally, through the family. Such bonds often inspire skepticism and blame from the victim's support network. Because of the proximity and familiarity of the attacker, spousal rape is likely to be repeated and accompanied by psychological and physical abuse. 59% of Japanese women reported being physically abused by their partners in a 1993 UNICEF report. Combine that number with statistics taken by the World Report on Violence and Health, which states that 57% of Japanese women who have been physically abused by their partner at one time, have also been psychologically and sexually abused. The resulting conservative estimate suggests that 33.6% of all married women in Japan were victims of sexual violence at the hands of their domestic partners in the nineties. While Japan has begun prosecuting spousal rape, those cases are rare, and as recent as the year 2000, predominantly included "cases in which a third party assisted," according to a U.S. State Department report. Wives seeking protection are more often reminded of the old Japanese proverb, "Fufugenka inu mo kuwanai," (Even a dog is not interested in a spousal quarrel). In the past, courts have ruled that it is legal for a man to rape his wife if she denies her "otsutome," (sexual duty), to her husband.

When discussing my research with men in Japan, most believed rape was an American or Western issue and that it was virtually a nonexistent problem in their home country. Women had different opinions without exception. There was a genuine sense of frustration and desperation in their discussions and opinions of sexual violence in Japan: It is real, prevalent and unrecognized. On December First, 2004, the day Japan's new rape laws went into effect, 15 members of Kokushikan University's well-regarded soccer team were charged with the seven-hour gang-rape of a school girl. Their case was processed under the old rape laws, and six assailants, all of whom confessed on the day of their arrest, were sentenced to one year of prison with a three-year suspended sentence. They walked out of court free because the judge in the case ruled the assailants had already "paid a high price for their acts."

Sexual violence, successful or attempted, has powerful psychological after-effects. Secondary victimization inhibits or further intimidates women from receiving assistance in coping with these issues. It can exacerbate symptoms already made prevalent by trauma. Among a host of diagnosable mental illnesses, the effects can manifest themselves as eating disorders, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Suicidal Ideation, Depression, Anxiety and general wariness of trust and intimacy.

Until women have genuine resources of support and justice throughout Japan, they can never feel safe and supported within their society. Schools should recognize that beyond sexual education, which is not prominent in Japan, rape is an issue of dominance, violation and assault. Women's rights, and rape prevention and reporting are topics worthy of note in moral education classes (do-toku), within school systems. Because of the predatory nature of sexual assault, rapists are repeat offenders. Boys and girls alike should be made aware of the harmful effects of rape, how to prevent it, and how to report it in Japan. For boys, the issue is twofold. Not only should the educational aspect encourage males to behave honorably toward women, but they should be taught how to recognize and report personal victimization. 3% of High School boys responding to the Asian Women's Fund survey also reported being the victims of rape.

While Japan's gang rape laws were finally punitively utilized against three minor yakuza members in Sapporo earlier this year, it remains to be seen whether longer sentencing applies to students of Japans' top Universities and other social elite. That politicians within the Japanese government remain in office despite bold statements of misogyny indicates a cannibalistic apathy within the popular sentiment of the nation's public. That such individuals would occupy prominent positions within the Diet, and even receive strong consideration for Prime Minister, (as with Fukuda this year), suggests a glaring deficiency in Japan's political structure. Both examples demonstrate continuing secondary victimization within the government. Diet members speaking on declining birth rate, suicide, school dropout, self sequestering (Hikikomori), labor shortage and delayed or declining marriage rates without consideration for the influence sexual violence plays in those issues, are either parading their own ignorance, or manipulating those issues for political gain. Before ignoring, forgetting or forgiving the trivialization of such important issues, the people of Japan should ask themselves if there are other individuals within their nation of 120 million people, who might better represent their interests. There is no other way to end the cycle of victimization.

To Japanese translation

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