Japan military probe finds over 100 sexual harassment cases
Associated PressTOKYO — Japan’s army on Thursday fired five servicemen and punished four others in a sexual assault case brought by a former soldier, prompting a rare investigation across the Defense Ministry that found over 100 other complaints of harassment, officials said. Rina Gonoi filed a sexual harassment case with the Defense Ministry last year, saying she had suffered multiple assaults by several male colleagues, causing her to give up her military career. Army chief Yoshihide Yoshida repeated his apology to Gonoi and said, “As head of this organization, I feel a strong sense of responsibility over sorrow and pain.” He said he takes the problem seriously and is determined to “eradicate harassment.” In one incident in August 2021, the senior male colleagues pressed the lower part of their bodies against her in a dorm at a training ground, forcing her to spread her legs, as more than 10 other male colleagues watched and laughed, but none tried to stop them, Gonoi said. Preliminary results of a ministry-wide harassment investigation launched in response to Gonoi’s case found 1,414 complaints, the ministry said in a statement Thursday.
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