Exclusive – Japan’s military needs more women.But it still fails due to harassment Written by: Reuters

Written by Sakura Murakami and Tim Kelly

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan is struggling to fill its military with the women it needs and policymakers have promised to recruit as it embarks on a major military buildup.

After a series of sexual harassment cases, the number of women applying to join the Self-Defense Forces fell by 12% in the fiscal year ending March 2023, after steadily increasing in recent years. Some victims say a culture of harassment can deter women from registering.

But nine months after the Department of Defense promised to take drastic action, two of its chiefs say the important recommendations made by an independent panel of experts – anti-harassment training. There are no plans to take any action regarding the introduction of a national system to review standards. For training.

In a report released in August, a government-appointed committee found the military’s superficial harassment training (with limited mention of sexual harassment) and the lack of centralized oversight of such training. It was pointed out that this lack was contributing to cultural problems within the military.

Committee Chairman Makoto Tadaki said some training sessions, one of which Reuters attended, were inconsistent with the seriousness of the situation.

A female military member who is suing the government over sexual harassment allegations also said in an interview that the education she received over the past 10 years was ineffective.

As an aging Japan faces growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia and overcomes the burden of its wartime past, calls are growing to end harassment and increase the number of women in the military.

Women make up just 9% of Japan’s military, compared to 17% in the United States, Tokyo’s key security ally.

The SDF referred Reuters’ questions to the Ministry of Defence, which said in an emailed response that harassment “destroys the mutual trust between its members, undermines the strength of its members and should never be tolerated.” No,” he said.

The ministry said it will host anti-harassment courses taught by external experts starting in 2023, make sessions more discussion-based and invite experts to review the training this year.

He did not respond to questions about whether he would implement the commission’s recommendation to centralize training oversight.

In 2022, former soldier Rina Gonoi made allegations of sexual assault public, and in the same year the Ministry of Defense conducted an investigation that uncovered more than 170 cases of suspected sexual harassment within the Self-Defense Forces.

Another alleged victim is a female military officer based in Okinawa who accused her senior of making lewd comments towards her in 2013. She later told Reuters that her name was publicly listed on harassment training materials distributed to her colleagues in 2014. The alleged perpetrator was not identified in the documents.

Reuters is not naming the alleged sexual harassment victim. Her claim was backed up by documents from a lawsuit she filed last year after she said she had exhausted the company’s grievance process.

unplanned training

The Department of Defense offers an annual online module on harassment in general. It also provides training materials to officers for in-person sessions, but it does not provide training to conduct harassment education and does not track how and when officers conduct harassment training. two defense officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, justified the existing system as providing flexibility to commanders.

In their review, six experts concluded that existing training is only a “general and superficial description” and “is not effective in helping people apply the training in the real world.” I attached it.

In April, Reuters attended a harassment prevention course given by an external instructor to more than 100 mid-level military officers at a base on the outskirts of Tokyo.

Instructor Keiko Yoshimoto addressed harassment as a communication issue and focused her discussion on generational differences and how this influences preferences in the type of car and flavor of potato chips.

“Generational differences make it difficult for people to communicate,” she said, adding that people need to understand the basics of communication before addressing specific issues regarding sexual harassment.

Mr. Tadaki, a law professor who attended part of Mr. Yoshimoto’s session, said, “With so many harassment cases coming to light, I didn’t think it was the kind of training I expected.” Ta.

He added that greater oversight of the quality of training would likely take more time.

Two months after the commission published its report, local media reported that in 2022, a seafarer was ordered against his will to meet with his boss, whom he had accused of sexual harassment. After that she quit her Self-Defense Force.

Gonoi and female military personnel based in Okinawa have criticized the system as insufficient.

“People will say, ‘Everyone put up with that kind of behavior, it was normal in our time,’ but these problems persisted because we didn’t do anything to stop it. It has been passed down to my generation,” the military woman told Reuters in March.

She added that the subsequent harassment training she received was often poorly implemented and that more centralized oversight was needed. “Rather than trying to make a point about sexual harassment, (police officers) choose materials that are easy to teach and that fit the content.” It’s the time they have. ”

fear of complaints

Defense Department officials said training on sexual harassment is primarily part of a broader anti-harassment curriculum. During the two-hour training that Reuters attended, about two minutes were devoted to sexual harassment.

When Reuters asked about sexual harassment incidents in interviews with officials and two uniformed executives, they said they talked about harassment in general.

Officials said standardized training on harassment is difficult because military personnel in high-stress environments may give orders in a direct manner that is unusual in other situations.

Two officers said there were concerns within the military that focusing too much on harassment could create operational problems, with one suggesting it could lead to unwarranted complaints. .

The Ministry of Defense said in a statement that it does not condone abuse and that the purpose of the training was to ensure that commanders “do not hesitate to provide the necessary guidance for the job due to concerns about harassment.”

Professor Tadaki said Japan can learn from other militaries.

“The US, UK and France are placing a more explicit emphasis on preventing harassment from its root causes, so prevention programs are structured around improving an organization’s internal environment and culture,” he said.