Legal Landmark verdict in JDSF sexual assault case

Tomorrow, Tuesday, a Japanese court is due to give a verdict in the landmark trial of three former JSDF soldiers accused of sexual assault in a country where few victims come forward. The victim, Rina Gonoi, 24, received both admiration and hostility when she exposed her ordeal last year – after a military investigation failed to prove – that she was attacked by fellow soldiers who laughed and watched. Her YouTube video (see below) went viral, and over 100,000 people supported a petition she presented to the defence ministry, which then admitted the assault and apologized.

In March, prosecutors changed their previous decision and indicted the three men, who were already expelled from the military, and they could face two years in jail if found guilty. Gonoi had always dreamed of joining the military since she witnessed female soldiers assisting in the aftermath of the catastrophic 2011 earthquake and tsunami in the Fukushima area where she was raised. Therefore, revealing her story was a painful decision, she confided to AFP in an interview in February, but she felt it was the only option, portraying herself as "hopeless rather than courageous".





In November, Britain's BBC included Gonoi on a list of 100 "inspiring and influential women" for 2023. Time magazine also included her in its "100 Next" list of people to watch.

Today, the Fukushima District Court convicted three former Ground Self-Defense Force members for acts of sexual indecency in 2021 committed against a female subordinate who made the rare move of coming forward to report the offences. It handed the men two years in prison, suspended for four years, for the assault on Rina Gonoi.

Gonoi's accusations prompted the Defense Ministry to dishonorably discharge Shutaro Shibuya, 31, Akito Sekine, 29 and Yusuke Kimezawa, 29, as well as two others and increase its efforts to address harassment issues. Prosecutors had sought two-year jail terms for the three accused men while their defense requested acquittals. According to the ruling, the three used martial arts techniques to force Gonoi onto a bed where they got on top of her, pressing their bodies against hers. The attack occurred while they were eating and drinking with others at a GSDF training facility in Hokkaido on Aug. 3, 2021. During the trial, the three denied touching Gonoi in an indecent manner or intending to do so and stated that they had apologized to her at the instruction of the SDF before being discharged. Gonoi, who was serving in a unit at Camp Koriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, left the GSDF in June last year.

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