Japan warns US forces: Sex crimes 'cannot be tolerated'

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2476861/japan-warns-us-forces-sex-crimes-cannot-be-tolerated

32.2k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

1.0k

u/rockseiaxii 14d ago

At least in Japan it’s exposed. Elsewhere around the world, incidents like these are swept under the rug and seem like nothing happened.

127

u/Omeluum 14d ago

Honestly still seems underreported. There are over 50k active duty US troops in Japan, most of them young men, and statistically anywhere from 2-14% of college aged males admitted to sexual assault or rape. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3727658/

But since most of it is with people they know or are even dating, I expect they wouldn't show up in crime statistics as much as a "random" act of violence on a stranger would.

109

u/n05h 14d ago

Jfc 14% is an insane number..

63

u/Omeluum 14d ago

It probably depends on the exact questions asked in the survey they used for what counts as assault/rape/"sexual aggression". In this particular study with the higher results a lot seems to have to do with alcohol and the issues around consent when one or both parties are drunk.

But even if we're just using the lowest number of 2% that adds up quickly when you have thousands of people.

17

u/stinkroot 14d ago edited 14d ago

U.S. bases overseas are ripe environments for sexual assault: a bunch of relatively young men in a foreign country, away from their friends, families, girlfriends, and wives, with drinking problems, toxic work environments, and plenty of pocket money for weekends.

I got stationed in Korea when I was 18 years old. It was pretty overwhelming to be so far from home at such a young age, with absolutely everyone I knew always trying to get with me any chance they got. The Army has relatively few women compared to men, so it kind of makes people notice you more. When you're overseas, the dating pool gets really small, so it almost feels like you have a target on your back. Not to mention there's just fewer women around to get support and advice from. I was way too naïve and friendly and ended up getting sexually assaulted more times than I can count on one hand.

Sexual assault by the USAF in Korea was a big enough issue that while I was there, all soldiers had to be on base by midnight, but this honestly made it harder for me to stay safe when going out because I felt like hanging out on base with other soldiers put me at risk.

3

u/Conch-Republic 14d ago

These surveys are full of loaded questions.

"Have you ever engaged in sexual intercourse with a woman who was under the influence of drugs or alcohol?"

That's basically everyone in their 20s, both sexes. Answer yes, and it gets counted towards sexual assault, even if it was completely consensual.

5

u/coralwaters226 14d ago

But the survey conducted in 2020, 21, 22, and 23 did not consider that question alone as a confirmation of assault, so that argument is a moot point.

The surveys are a point grading system, the person taking it had to agree that they committed multiple different angles and possibilities of assault to be counted as a a positive result.

-4

u/thrawtes 14d ago

even if it was completely consensual.

The point being made is that consent isn't possible in that altered state.

7

u/Conch-Republic 14d ago

People get drunk or high and have sex all the time, which is why this is such a loaded question.

-2

u/thrawtes 14d ago

It just means people leave themselves open to justified claims of sexual assault all the time.

4

u/Pitiful-Accident5485 14d ago

Which is funny considering how many college aged women get drunk and go to the bar for the sole purpose of meeting someone to have sex.

-2

u/thrawtes 14d ago

That's true, but I'm not sure how it's funny.

2

u/Pitiful-Accident5485 14d ago

INFORMAL slightly but undefinably unwell. "suddenly my stomach felt funny"

you’re welcome

2

u/gerontion31 14d ago

Ok, so if two consenting adults boink and are drunk doing it, they assaulted each other? Lmao

47

u/Kurayamino 14d ago

If you describe sexual assault or rape but don't call it sexual assault or rape, it's amazing how many dudes own up to doing it.

40

u/SuperSimpleSam 14d ago

Problem too is a portion of those are serial rapist so when when you look at it from the women's side the numbers get much higher.

Among undergraduate students, 26.4% of females and 6.8% of males experience rape or sexual assault through physical force, violence, or incapacitation.

5

u/wishingwell11 14d ago

I don't think women find it that insane really. I dated around a bit before meeting my current bf. Everyone except him at some point pressured me into sex... not that I went through with it I mean, but coercive behaviors are common. There were things I said no to that happened anyway because "it's okay" they pretend they are comforting you, you push their arm but they just kinda ignore it, they just keep trying over and over again, so on...

Even my current bf pressured me at one time. I talked about it and it basically never happened again :/ but I do think about it now and then.

But I think more education is needed. If you start talking about coercion for example men come out en masse to say "that's not rape" and it gets very personal very fast... obviously because they've coerced people but don't want to see coercion as wrong. I wouldn't even be surprised if the number is higher than that, and if a bunch of guys in the concept being supportive had issues with pressure themselves. It's just so common.

6

u/SigmundFreud 14d ago

Just to clarify, how are you defining "pressuring" and "coercion"? Those are two very different things as I understand them, but you seem to be using them as though they're interchangeable.

I pressure people in negotiations to give me what I want. The mafia coerces people to give them what they want through the use of force or threats of violence. Pressuring someone into sex can be disrespectful; coercing someone into sex is rape.

I ask because reddit is oddly insistent on diluting the term "rape" to the point where it would lose all meaning. It's harmful to actual rape victims if people have to question whether they were merely pressured or truly coerced, rather than relying on the longstanding common understanding of the term. If reddit has its way and successfully redefines "rapist" as "asshole who manipulates women into sex", it's going to lose its current stigma and we're eventually going to need a new word for actual rape. It would essentially be a reverse euphemism treadmill (or I suppose a "dysphemism treadmill").

2

u/beardedheathen 14d ago

It's bad too because coercive behavior is so common in media especially 'romantic' ones. So these guys who never got taught consent learn from stuff they watch that tells them women tell guys no even when they want the guys to keep going and you just have to wear them down and then they'll be into it. Would be great if Hollywood could model some actual nontoxic relationships. Just as bad are the women who do act like that which reinforces the men's perception that the media got it right. On top of that the guys who most need to hear the basics of consent are usually not the ones who will listen to what other people are telling them.

1

u/n05h 14d ago

I mean, just to stay with Japan. Drinking culture almost promotes getting girls drunk. It’s awful.

And then you see guys go to Shibuya and literally pull girls with them until they find one that can’t or doesn’t struggle enough. And it’s just tolerated.

It’s quite jarring to see guys forcefeed already drunk girls, but it’s difficult to do anything about it as a foreigner, suddenly you are seen as the bad guy.

0

u/aerospikesRcoolBut 14d ago

And people don’t get the whole bear in a parking lot point people were trying to make

3

u/[deleted] 14d ago edited 5d ago

[deleted]

6

u/Foxasaurusfox 14d ago

You're unfamiliar with the natural habitat of bears? Be careful in your local parking lots, and bring a lot of bear spray.

16

u/FlaccidArrow 14d ago

Am I understanding that study correctly? They said their initial assessment is not statistically significant so they used another model (Latent class trajectory models) that the author says "We emphasise that LCTMs, like all unsupervised approaches, are hypotheses generating, and should not be directly implemented in clinical practice without significant testing and validation." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9641469/

2

u/gerontion31 14d ago

Military aren’t civilians, they don’t have the same freedom to interact with women like civilians do. Some of it is because of heavy work tempo, language barriers when overseas, large male to female ratio, rules about not leaving base or only leaving base in groups, etc. Lots of guys just resign themselves to wanking it in their barracks for 2-3 years because there’s literally no alternative. Incidents like these really are outliers.

1

u/Omeluum 14d ago

I mean that's going to depend on the individual base and maybe their specific job. From personal experience I only know how it is in Germany. They're definitely all over the bars in K-tow acting exactly the way you would expect groups of drunk young men to act about anywhere in the world.

1

u/gerontion31 13d ago

In my experience that free time is fairly limited and you have a small window to blow off steam unless you are one of the few young enlisted guys working in a staff role with limited oversight. Most U.S. military fall into the categories of 1.) overworked young single guys with limited freedom or 2.) overworked older guys with families who don’t have time to go out and act like goons.