Alleged rape angers Japan
The suspect is a U.S. Marine on politically sensitive Okinawa. Some say official outrage is more for show.
Some rape victims in Japan describe their experience with police as deeply humiliating. An Australian woman raped by an American serviceman in 2002 recalls being questioned for several hours without police providing medical care or an opportunity to shower.
They also demanded that she return to the scene of the crime to reenact the rape for police photographers, a standard Japanese police practice. Prosecutors would not press charges, but she won damages in a civil case.
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The problem, many here contend, is that Japanese attitudes toward violence against women remain rooted in antiquated male beliefs.
In 2003, the Weekly Bunshun magazine quoted then- Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda telling reporters in an off-the-record briefing that "there are lots of women who dress in a seductive way. I wonder if they know that half of human beings in the world are male. All men are black panthers."
He later said his message was intended to be completely different.
Fukuda, 71, is now the prime minister, leading his government's condemnation in the Marine's case.
"It's good to hear their formal condemnation of rape, but I fear our politicians are just behaving paternally," said psychologist Konishi. "They single out American soldiers because they see this as a matter of Japanese property being violated by outsiders."
Some rape victims in Japan describe their experience with police as deeply humiliating. An Australian woman raped by an American serviceman in 2002 recalls being questioned for several hours without police providing medical care or an opportunity to shower.
They also demanded that she return to the scene of the crime to reenact the rape for police photographers, a standard Japanese police practice. Prosecutors would not press charges, but she won damages in a civil case.
...
The problem, many here contend, is that Japanese attitudes toward violence against women remain rooted in antiquated male beliefs.
In 2003, the Weekly Bunshun magazine quoted then- Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda telling reporters in an off-the-record briefing that "there are lots of women who dress in a seductive way. I wonder if they know that half of human beings in the world are male. All men are black panthers."
He later said his message was intended to be completely different.
Fukuda, 71, is now the prime minister, leading his government's condemnation in the Marine's case.
"It's good to hear their formal condemnation of rape, but I fear our politicians are just behaving paternally," said psychologist Konishi. "They single out American soldiers because they see this as a matter of Japanese property being violated by outsiders."