crime

2 Kanagawa cops arrested for sexually harassing female colleague

20 Comments

Kanagawa prefectural police said Monday that two male police officers from Yamato have been arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a junior female officer in March last year.

According to police, the two officers, identified as Yoshinobu Mori, 35, and Yoshikazu Arakawa, 38, went with two other male policemen and a female officer to a karaoke bar. Fuji TV reported that the two suspects are accused of abusing their position in the professional hierarchy to order the woman to commit lewd acts by ordering her to strip, wear the clothes of one of the male officers, and forcibly kissing her.

Following the incident, the woman sought the advice of a superior at the police station to which she was posted, Fuji reported. Information about the case subsequently became public last July.

According to police, Mori and Arakawa were quoted as saying they were off duty at the time and drunk, and apologized for their actions.

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Mori and Arakawa were quoted as saying they were off duty at the time and drunk, and apologized for their actions.

Oh, well then. That's OK fellas. No foul there, hey? You were drunk so that makes it ok to sexually assault, bully, intimidate and humiliate a subordinate. Hope they are thrown out of the force and charged with sexual assault.

11 ( +12 / -1 )

the two suspects are accused of abusing their position in the professional hierarchy

I hate it when they talk about violating positions in a company or as a teacher or whatever when people commit illegal acts. Abusing your position in the professional hierarchy? It has nothing to do with the "professional hierarchy", it has to do with abusing your position as a member of society and a human being.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Seems to be a popular - and popularly accepted - defense in Japan. I was drunk. Sorry. How convenient....

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Hope they are thrown out of the force and charged with sexual assault.

I see you have no idea how Japan works.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

well, i'm glad the superior who she consulted with reported the incident instead of telling her to remain silent. so yes, there ARE good police officers in japan.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

@Oikawa, it IS to do with abusing their position in the professional hierarchy. That's why they felt able to order her in this way, and they absolutely ought to be punished accordingly. In the absence of the professional hierarchy it's likely that the crime would never have occurred.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Love the order ... First, we were off duty. That means if we were on duty, we wouldn't have done half that stuff. Second, we were drunk (and everyone knows that when you're drunk, you do the opposite of what you really feel and mean... Yeah, right). and um... Oh yeah, third, sorry about that.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

actually i believe there are 3 popular excuses used in jpn 1) i was drunk 2) we got da mental illness 3) play victim card

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Thanks for the follow-up story JT. I wonder what happened to that case.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

ADK99

I know what you're saying but the "professional hierarchy" is the least of your worries when you're been sexually assaulted. You see it all the time here, it's always related to people's positions in a company as opposed to being arrested as they should be. They resign their position and it's all alright..

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It has nothing to do with the "professional hierarchy", it has to do with abusing your position as a member of society and a human being.

Incorrect. It has everything to do with professional hierarchy. How long do you think she would have stayed if it wasn't her superiors there? If they were just acquaintences, she would have been out the door as soon as they got weird.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Police Were Immediately on the Scene I would guess lol

2 ( +2 / -0 )

They were "arrested", brought back to their place of work, and released I bet. "How many times have I told you not to sexually harass our female employees? Now get outta here ya silly boys, and don't do it again."

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I understand what you are trying to say oikawa. They abused their positions in the professional hierarchy, but professional hierarchy or not, normal human beings and members of society shouldnt behave like this anyway.

As a non-Japanese, I sometimes wish I could understand the mindset that actually made her DO it and not just tell them to shove it. How scared must she have been of them? Or how brainwashed into doing whatever authority says? Not blaming her in the slightest, just wishing I could understand because where I come from it would normally be so different. What is it that makes Japanese so submssive to authority figures without question, even when those authority figures are clearly abusive? Why cant they speak up? Wider implications than just this story but I would just love to understand better.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

It's the police, who cares, right.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

最低.. make them stand in front of all policewomen at morning assembly and get a slapping from each!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

As a non-Japanese, I sometimes wish I could understand the mindset that actually made her DO it and not just tell them to shove it.

I actually can guess the mindset with little difficulty. Women in a male-dominated profession are going to be fighting an uphill battle for equal treatment even in the BEST of situations. When all your superiors are men, the last thing you want is for them to pick you out as not being a "team player" - in the case of the police department, someone they couldn't trust to guard their back in a deadly situation. So you're going to put up with as much as you can stand in order to "fit in" with the team. At some point, though, you have to realize that your peace of mind overrides the need to "be their buddy". By attempting to be trusted, she set herself up to be abused by a bunch of men who probably had no intention of ever treating her as a colleague. As long as women aren't in the police command structure, women in the force are going to be dealing with this kind of abuse.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The question is, if you can't protect you own be behind from abuse how you going to protect someone else's?

It's a problem that the US military is facing now. Female soldiers and officers SOUNDS good on paper but if you have to spend energy protecting them, bouncing officers and soldiers involved in groping them, even though they may be some of your best men, you may find your semi-feminine forces out matched by a more male, (though not as enlightened), opposing force.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

ChibaChick:

How scared must she have been of them? Or how brainwashed into doing whatever authority says?

What is it that makes Japanese so submssive to authority figures without question, even when those authority figures are clearly abusive?

My guess is (and I've said this before) that this goes back long time. Japan was ruled by Shogun for almost 700 years. In Japan, it seems you keep your head down in most occasions, never speak up to injustices, never "make a fuss". I think it is still ingrained in Japanese peoples minds to be careful of those above you 'cause you know thay can and will abuse their position if you challenge them.

Just look this case. "The woman sought the advice...". What advice? Any modern person understands that this clearly is inappropriate if not illegal what they did to her. In a modern western country, these boys would have been in trouble. Here, they probably are not. That you can still use the excuse "I was drunk" in 2013 says a lot about Japan...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Good job lady, these culprits dont deserve police uniform!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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