The Ministry of Defense has apologized for the sexual harassment of a former member of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force who claimed to have been physically touched by a member of the Ground Self-Defense Force.
In the future, we plan to take action against those involved.
Former Ground Self-Defense Force officer Rina Gonoi (23) said she was sexually harassed at a unit in Fukushima Prefecture, where she belonged until June this year. I was.
She revealed on the 29th that she was able to confirm multiple sexual harassment acts as a result of interviewing about 100 people by the Ministry of Defense.
According to the report, sexual remarks and physical contact were made on a daily basis in the unit, and several female members were victims of sexual harassment.
Regarding Ms. Gonoi, from autumn last year to August of last year, members of the unit touched and pushed her body during training, etc., and the company commander who heard her complaint of damage. He said he didn't report it to her boss.
The Ministry of Defense said it would take action against those involved after further investigation.
Yoshihide Yoshida, Chief of Staff of the Ground Self-Defense Force, said, "On behalf of the Ground Self-Defense Force, I would like to offer a deep apology to Mr. Gonoi, who has been suffering for a long time. Based on the recognition that harassment is an unforgivable act, we will eradicate it. I will try to do it," he apologized.
The Ministry of Defense is conducting special defense inspections targeting all organizations in order to investigate the actual situation of harassment, and will take countermeasures.
Mr. Gonoi "I want you to fundamentally improve."
On the evening of the 29th, Mr. Gonoi met with Director General Kazuhito Machida of the Ministry of Defense Personnel Education Bureau in Tokyo and received a report on the results of the investigation.
In this, Director-General Machida apologized, "I would like to express my deepest apologies to Mr. Gonoi, who has suffered for a long time as the Ministry of Defense. I am very sorry."
In response, Gonoi said, "I think it's really late to be recognized like this now. I want the Ministry of Defense to apologize, but I also want the people who sexually harassed to apologize directly." I was.
On top of that, he said, "I don't want people who suffer damage like me in the future, but if they do, I want them to respond with the feeling that the organization will work together to solve the problem. I want you to make fundamental improvements so that something like this never happens again."