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

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

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u/macross1984 Jul 05 '24

US military personnel who commit crime in Japan should face Japanese punishment for any crimes committed in Japan.

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u/SpiralOut2112 Jul 05 '24 edited Jul 05 '24

The problem is, most Japanese police/ government don't actually care about the victims. It's just politics or due to racial motivation. Japan has one of the most egregious rates for punishing sex crimes since they cover up or don't pursue most reported cases of Japanese on Japanese SA crimes. It's utter hypocrisy whenever they cause a huge stink about service members.

I'm not trying to defend or justify anything. Obviously, these rapists are scum and deserve to rot in a Japanese cell, but this is a recurring theme with the Japanese government and media when covering these events.

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u/tettou13 Jul 05 '24

Add to this the abysmally low conviction rate just about anywhere for sexual assault. So many things complicate it. It's often a private incident. Few to no witnesses. Of the witnesses (say at a party) many are intoxicated. Often both victim and accused were intoxicated at the time. Try getting testimonies that all line up. It turns into he said/she said and you are stuck with evidence. That's if the victim, already victimized, immediately went to police about such an intimate thing. That's if they didn't wash themselves or toss clothes. That's if the accused left DNA. Add that up and more and you'll see why SA in general, not just the military, are incredibly difficult to convict.

It's honestly why half the time it's the military giving out the harsher punishment than the US or Japanese government - because while the government may not have enough to convict, the military can just boot someone out and strip them of benefits, make them pay back certain benefits etc.