By Emma Helland
On the 17th of May, APU released a statement on Campus Terminal regarding an incident where a student had been the victim of “surreptitious photography”. The student in question had been using the female toilet on the 3rd floor in D Building, when someone took a picture from underneath the door.
Source: Campus terminal
At the end of the announcement, the university prompted students to refrain from going to the bathroom alone, and using the toilet early in the morning or late at night.
This sent APU students into an uproar on social media, with a dozen people sharing the post to their Instagram stories, as they felt the statement implied that students should choose when to use the bathroom more wisely.
Can’t refrain from using the bathroom
Momo Kitahara, a fourth-year student and the leader of Equal APU, was one of many students who expressed their frustration through Instagram.
“Why do we need to be cautious about using the bathroom as a woman?”, Kitahara asked.
When the announcement was first released, her initial thought went to the victim and the trauma she must have gone through. But she stated that it quickly transitioned into feeling frustrated over how APU decided to phrase the post.
“I understand that one of the aims of this public note is to warn students, but the way the statement was written was very problematic. We can’t refrain from using the bathroom. They should have focused on educating people. How should I feel safe after reading this?”
An unrealistic suggestion
After reading the statement she took to Instagram to share her disappointment.
“The main reason why I decided to post it was to alarm others, but to also put a light on how it's been handled by the university. Many of my friends said they feel restricted as a woman, they feel no comfort from APU whatsoever after reading the post.”
In addition to Momo, many other APU students have also decided to voice their opinion regarding the university’s approach through social media.
“I think the reason why so many students are upset about it is because it’s an unrealistic suggestion to tell people not to use the bathroom”, Kitahara says. “It should be them trying to prove that they’re here for us, but they didn’t. APU could do better”.
No next step
A few hours after APU published the post, Momo decided to take matters into her own hands and voice her opinion to the Student Office.
“Right after seeing the statement I felt discomfort, something had to be done. One of the main issues was that there's no next step for how they plan to deal with sexual harassment in the future, that’s why I decided to email the student office.”
In the email addressed to APU, Momo asked the office to reconsider the suggestions made in the original description, and proposed that they attach a support line to the announcement that will allow a more effective way of reporting incidents.
The student office’s response
The student office has since replied to Momo’s e-mail, stating that they will take her feedback into account, and create a new post after considering with the Administration Office and the Security office on how to create a safe campus. At the time of publishing this article, the student office has yet to publish a new post regarding the issue.
In addition to providing feedback to APU, Momo also stresses that as a community we should try to educate ourselves, and spread awareness in order to help prevent sexual harassment.
“It’s important to note that sexual harassment can happen to anyone. It’s good to stay alarmed, but at the same time you shouldn’t have to restrain yourself because of your gender.”
Spreading awareness
Momo is the leader of Equal APU which is a club that advocates for gender equality. Her passion for gender equality and feminism led her to join the club over a year ago
“I grew up in the US. After coming to APU I noticed a big difference. The gender gap is too big. I want to challenge Japanese society, and help make gender issues less of a taboo topic.”
Source: Equal APU
As a mission to further spread awareness on gender-related issues, Equal APU is planning on making a guidebook containing information about topics related to sexual harassment among other things.
“It’s going to be digital first, and then hopefully it will be printed by fall. The ultimate goal is to educate and make people conscious about these issues. A lot of students might benefit from this as it is from a student's perspective.”
A plea for action
In the future Momo hopes that APU will take a more active stance against sexual harassment, and implent new strategies to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
“I think the female students have the right to feel worried because of the way APU announced the incident, but it’s important that we don’t let it restrain us. Girls shouldn't have to feel scared when using the bathroom, and the university should take actions to improve this.”
Here's a list of contacts for if you're feeling anxious about the recent incident and need to talk to someone:
https://www.instagram.com/equal.apu/ Equal APU on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/apu.mewe/ APU Mewe on Instagram
https://en.apu.ac.jp/studentsupport/page/content0240.html/ the Student office's page on sexual harassment
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