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Now is as good a time as any to bring back my thread on #sexualassault. It& #39;s now been about 5 years since I was attacked in my suburban neighborhood in Tokyo by a random man and spent until 2am convincing the Japanese police that reporting it mattered. A thread for #SAAM2021:
One of the things I recently discussed in a graduate student course was navigating public spaces as an academic. I told them that when it first happened, I spent weeks getting advice from everyone I knew on whether or not it would ruin my chances on the job market to go public.
I wanted to tell my story for me and for others, but the depressing, angry consensus everyone came to was "You just can& #39;t trust there won& #39;t be someone on a search committee who googles your name and sees it pop up and doesn& #39;t believe in talking about that type of thing publicly."
This was already after a major Japan-related news outlet had refused to published my account (despite the editor& #39;s best efforts to support me) because they didn& #39;t want to run something that was critical of the police and, of course, "How can we know what she says is true?"
I wrote my account semi-anonymously and put it up online with the help of @jakeadelstein. Despite circulating it, I waited until the last couple of years to explicitly claim it in public spaces. I guess I reached the "fuck it, it& #39;s MY story" point. http://www.japansubculture.com/who-matters-sexual-assault-and-inadequate-police-response-in-japan/">https://www.japansubculture.com/who-matte...
If you know anything about sexual assault/harassment in Japan, particularly towards women, you& #39;ll see familiar themes in my story: inadequate training on these issues, uncertainty about how to handle crimes involving non-Japanese, racism, and a desire for it not to be on record.
I distinctly remember calling my best friend in America crying because I knew I& #39;d have to go back, alone, the way my attacker ran, to go to the police box, and endure questioning with vocabulary terms I& #39;d never learned on a crime not taken seriously.
What I didn& #39;t know at the time was that I would be subject to secondary victimization, as survivors are often forced to reenact (yes, you read that right) their attacks, so that photographs and narrative records can be taken: I interviewed on this: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2017/09/27/issues/surviving-sexual-assault-japan-victimized/">https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community...
I was in a very fortunate position not to have been raped or seriously hurt, and to have had the emotional energy to do more. I spent weeks wrestling with an academic institution trying to find a way to notify others who lived near me who might be at risk, or identity resources.
When I asked if resources were available to students & foreign researchers, I was told there were none, especially in English. So I made them. Whether or not they were every shared, I don& #39;t know. But I encourage you to give them to your institutions! https://shinpaideshou.com/2016/08/09/resources-on-sexual-assault-in-japan/">https://shinpaideshou.com/2016/08/0...
Students and other researchers need to know who they can contact and how to get help if sexual assault happens. There are advocates, but we don& #39;t always know how to find them. Any barrier you can remove to making that happen is incredibly helpful.
I& #39;m sure there& #39;s many more updated articles and such about how poorly handled sexual assault and harassment are in Japan, but here is a past thread I put together of some examples: https://twitter.com/paularcurtis/status/1166725779776053248">https://twitter.com/paularcur...
I am keenly aware my experience was filtered through my privilege as a foreign resident, a researcher at a prestigious institution, & a white woman. Others can be far more at risk & in need of support. So share resources. Create safe spaces. #BelieveWomen. Be good to one another.
