Female Japan SDF officer who reports harassment from superior, receives “reprimand” on grounds she must have consented- “this came to light precisely because she sought advice from the harassment hotline. If she’s disciplined for calling, no victim in the JSDF would ever dare use the hotline again”

Gross.

You can’t make this up. The first world country with the third world country justice system

What a shame! Japanese women, fight!

Make it clear this is a tabloid article with no source, often intentionally written misleading way and loosely based on facts. Anyway traslation of the article.

—“Objection to That Ruling!”—

In a lawsuit filed by a female defense administrative official who received a reprimand and sought its revocation, the Tokyo District Court dismissed the plaintiff’s claim. The court ruled that engaging in a sexual relationship with a married superior constituted “conduct unbecoming of a Self-Defense Forces member” under the Self-Defense Forces Law, and found that the relationship was consensual based on messages she had sent to her superior.
Former judge Kiichi Okaguchi, known as the “white briefs judge,” offers his own perspective on what he calls a “unjust disciplinary ruling against a harassed SDF member” (the following is his contribution).
Are Harassment Victims Unable to Speak Up Within the SDF? A Shocking Outcome in a Harassment Lawsuit…
The case we introduce here involves a female SDF member who, after receiving a reprimand, filed a lawsuit seeking its cancellation, but her claim was not upheld.
The reason for the disciplinary action was that she had engaged in a sexual relationship on multiple occasions with a superior more than 10 years older than her—a married man in his 60s—at the government housing where he lived. The superior had told her that his marriage was already effectively broken, and she gradually developed feelings for him.
However, she later went to the Ministry of Defense’s harassment consultation desk. In response, the Ministry disciplined the superior—but, inexplicably, also issued a reprimand to the woman who had come forward as a victim. Naturally, she found this unacceptable and filed a lawsuit challenging the disciplinary action.
The court first concluded that it was “clear” that the woman had consented to the sexual relationship. It then stated that “if SDF personnel from the same workplace engage in adulterous conduct, this clearly damages the dignity that the SDF must uphold and undermines public trust in the Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces, according to current standards of social propriety.” Furthermore, even if the superior’s marriage had already broken down, this would not immediately lessen the negative impact on the dignity of SDF personnel or the authority of the organization. On this basis, the court ruled that the reprimand was lawful.
However, this judgment raises serious doubts. In the first place, the superior, in the strict hierarchical environment of the SDF, used his position to bring a younger subordinate into his official residence. While it is natural that the superior was disciplined, is it truly appropriate to punish the woman—who could be seen as a victim—as well?
Even if the woman “consented,” that consent should be evaluated in light of the unequal power relationship between a superior and a subordinate. Moreover, the incident came to light precisely because the woman herself sought help through the harassment consultation system. If even those who report harassment are punished, it will create an environment within the SDF where no one dares to speak up, even if they suffer abuse.