Interview with a female ex-JGSDF member who was inspired to join up after witnessing rescue efforts by the Self-Defense Forces in her home town during Tohoku 2011.
As soon as she finished training, however, she was subjected to
daily sexual harassment, abuse and direct assault from her peers and superiors, to the point she nearly committed suicide,
only to be interrupted by a call to duty as an earthquake struck.
Reports were brought up, and dismissed on grounds of being "part of the training". Charges were subsequently filed, likewise dropped on grounds of "lack of evidence" as witnesses were "ordered" not to testify.
The JSDF has a high suicide rate due to the extreme hierarchical and conformal structure within the forces.
The mental and physical "toughness" that are expected from service members mean that abuses that would otherwise be illegal are often unreported, outright ignored and tolerated in order to preserve "unit cohesion".
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