The ruling on Rina Gonoi, an exceptional victory for victims of sexual assault

2023-12-12 15:44:45
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Following the news that a Japanese court has found three former soldiers guilty of sexually assaulting their colleague Rina Gonoi, Amnesty International’s East Asia researcher Boram Jang said:

“Rina Gonoi dared to report to break the vicious cycle of impunity for gender violence in Japan. It is an exceptional victory not only for her but also for all victims and survivors of sexual assault in Japan, many of whom suffer in silence..

This landmark ruling is an encouraging sign that Japan is finally beginning to adopt legal reforms on sexual crimes. However, the country still has a long way to go to change both the criminal justice system and a victim-blaming culture that undermines the credibility of survivors. The stigma and harmful stereotypes suffered by survivors of gender violence must be eliminated.

This context fuels widespread fear of reporting among survivors of sexual assault, along with low rates of prosecution and dismissal of cases, all of which underlines Rina Gonoi’s bravery in this daunting and difficult process.”

Today, the Fukushima District Court has found three former soldiers guilty of sexually assaulting their colleague Rina Gonoi, whose case sparked international interest when Rina published her story on YouTube in 2022.

A former member of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, Rina Gonoi also filed a lawsuit in June 2023 against five former soldiers for mental suffering due to sexual violence inflicted on her during military service, and against the government for failing to prevent or investigate the attacks. duly.

The investigation report subsequently commissioned by the Ministry of Defence, published in August, concluded that there is a deep-rooted culture of harassment in the armed forces, including sexual harassment.

Japan’s Parliament approved a set of reforms to the Penal Code in June under which non-consensual sexual relations are classified as rape for the first time and the age of sexual consent is raised from 13 to 16 years. The legally established period to report a violation was extended from 10 to 15 years.