Japan sexual harassment survey reveals 150 allegations by women in media

Dozens of women working for Japanese newspapers and TV networks have been sexually harassed – many repeatedly – with government officials, police officers and MPs cited as the perpetrators in about a third of the cases, according to a new survey.

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The poll, which uncovered 150 cases of alleged sexual harassment targeting 35 women, was carried out soon after the most senior bureaucrat in the finance ministry resigned over claims that he had made sexually inappropriate comments towards a female journalist.

Professor Mayumi Taniguchi, a gender studies expert at Osaka International University, said 40% of the incidents occurred at the women’s workplaces, while the rest involved news sources and other individuals.

They included a female reporter for a national newspaper who claimed that a senior police officer repeatedly directed inappropriate remarks towards her. Her colleagues were aware of his behaviour, but did nothing to stop it.

Chie Matsumoto, a freelance journalist and spokeswoman for the recently formed Women in Media Network Japan, said she wasn’t surprised by the survey’s findings.

“Our network has 90 members and 19 of them say they have been sexually harassed, including by police sources, interviewees and their own bosses,” Matsumoto told the Guardian. “They were all told to forget about what happened to them – that putting up with sexual harassment was part of their job as journalists.”

The global MeToo movement has been slow to gain traction in Japan, where victims are often reluctant to speak out for fear of damaging their careers or being portrayed as the guilty party.

But criticism of how the country’s authorities handle allegations of sexual harassment has risen since a weekly magazine published allegations that Junichi Fukuda, the vice minister of finance, had sexually harassed a female reporter from the TV Asahi network.

Fukuda, who has denied the claims, allegedly told the journalist he wanted to kiss her while they were drinking in a bar. “I’ll tie up your hands. Can I touch your breasts?” he is alleged to have said. “Shall we have an affair once the budget is approved?”

The magazine alleged Fukuda made similarly inappropriate remarks to other female journalists covering the ministry.

The finance minister, Taro Aso, drew widespread criticism after suggesting Fukuda might have been entrapped, adding that sexual harassment was “not a crime”.

The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has resisted calls to discipline Aso and has yet to comment publicly on mounting claims of sexual harassment in the media, despite portraying himself as a champion of the rights of working women.