By: Eleonora Adara
Edited by: Ahmed Labib Daiyan & Vinuri Perera
Sexual violence is a widespread issue in Japan. Schoolgirls are expressing how often it occurs on public transit or on the streets. To advance in the business world, women are expected to put up with sexual harassment and assault. Not to mention, the normalization of victim-blaming piles on the list of issues to put up with, especially for women. “In Japan, I feel that victims of sexual violence are often blamed and held responsible for their clothes and attitudes,” said Nao Nishikawa. She is a core member of Equal APU, an organization that strives for gender equality and women empowerment. Cases of sexual violence in Japan are on the rise. Luckily, people are starting to take action. But will that be enough?
What’s also alarming is that, according to a November 2020 survey conducted by Spring, out of 5,899 victims of sexual violence in Japan, only 10.9% of them reached out for help, and just 15.1% reported to the authorities. And only less than 1% of the perpetrators were actually indicted and found guilty in court. Nevertheless, it can be said that sexual violence occurs in all circumstances, and that blame cannot be pinned on the victim. On the contrary, they need the utmost support — from their friends & family, members of the society, and also the legal system.
Let us look at the situation on APU campus. “We recently had a lot of sexual
harassment incidents on campus,” says Momo Kitahara, president of Equal APU.
“And it isn’t really talked about as much. Even by APU, like through Campus Terminal and stuff, they’re not quite there yet in my opinion,” she said with reference to a poorly worded statement from APU in response to a sexual harassment incident that happened on campus recently. “At APU, I think the way they communicate is really bringing misunderstandings amongst students, which makes the campus feel even more unsafe because of the victim-blaming, whether it was conscious or not.”
Minimizing sexual violence means lowering the number of people who are affected by it. In order to do so, both sexual violence prevention, and if possible, direct intervention is required. This is where bystanders come in. In the event of sexual assault, a third party (bystander) who is present might intervene to help the victim by preventing or minimizing the damage.
In the case of when someone is being sexually assaulted, specific actions that a bystander can take are the "5 Ds": (1) Distract, (2) Delegate, (3) Document, (4) Delay, and (5) Direct. A third party's involvement as a potential stopper for the occurrence of sexual violence can be very important. Their role as a first aider can be vital for the victim’s well-being. Victims can feel at ease with their support in that situation.
To raise awareness of the current status of sexual violence in Japan and the significance of third parties, Safe Campus, a student group from Keio University, proposed a project called the Active Bystander Badge Contest. This contest is aimed to raise awareness of active bystanders, starting from schools. For this project, Safe Campus partnered with many organizations that support their cause, one of them being APU’s own Equal. “Equal APU was invited to help spread the word out. That’s one thing — the promotional part of it, so more students would participate. And then we were also the judges for the actual badges,” says Kitahara. Along with Equal, a list of organizations from top universities across Japan were also invited to participate in this project. “It was very cool because Equal APU is still pretty small. To be invited along with a bunch of organizations from really famous universities, like Tokyo University and Waseda, it was nice to be able to participate in that and create this network as well,” adds Kitahara.
The award ceremony for the contest was held on July 25 through Youtube Live. There were two winners and three honourable mentions. “The works of the award-winning people, such as the Grand Prix, all have bright designs, and I felt that they expressed hope for the future,” expressed Nishikawa, who was in attendance at the award ceremony.
The Grand Prix winning design will be produced and distributed to individuals nationwide with the help of partnering organizations. Wearers of the badge are those who (1) do not tolerate sexual violence, (2) do not disregard the damage inflicted by sexual violence, (3) can act as much as possible according to the situation, and (4) take responsibility for their behaviour. According to Kitahara, the badges are currently being made, and will hopefully be distributed to partnering organizations within the end of September.
Wearing the badge promotes awareness of the bystander and makes it easier for the victim to reach out to supporting resources by demonstrating a third-party stance toward sexual violence. However, it is to be stated that, the badge does not imply that the wearer has specialized expertise or can protect people from sexual violence. “It’s just aiming to start a conversation and be an active bystander. It’s saying that ‘I’m with you, I’m together with you, please don’t feel alone.’ It’s kind of more like togetherness,” Kitahara clarified. The ultimate goal is to create a sense of security within the environment. So let’s all take part in that, by keeping an eye on sexual violence.
To learn more, visit:
https://safecampuskeio.wixsite.com/badgecontest (Japanese only)
Image sources:
[Momo Kitahara, president of Equal APU] courtesy of Momo Kitahara
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