Japanese ex-soldier wins battle for justice in landmark sexual assault case

Tokyo [Japan], December 13: A Japanese court on Tuesday found three former soldiers guilty of sexually assaulting a female colleague, in a victory for the victim whose battle for justice challenged taboos in a traditional, male-dominated society.
The case of 24-year-old former Self-Defense Forces member Rina Gonoi relates to a 2021 incident during her time in the army when she said she was pinned down by three male colleagues who simulated a sex act on her.
The defendants denied that their acts amounted to sexual assault.
The men, aged from 29 to 31, seemed to show little expression as the judge read out his verdict, giving them each a suspended sentence of two years.
"I think it was good for Japan's society that the court handed down a guilty verdict and accepted the claims that I've made from the very beginning," Gonoi told reporters outside the district court in Fukushima, about 250 kilometres (155 miles)north of Tokyo.
"(The verdict) shows that it's not OK to do things for a laugh, that such acts are an actual crime," she said, pausing mid-sentence to retain her composure.
Gonoi, who said she was subjected to persistent harassment after enlisting in 2020, alleged that the three men pinned her to the ground, pulled her legs apart and pressed their crotches against her in simulation of a sex act.
She complained to her superiors at the time of the incident but later decided to leave the army when no action was taken.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation