Her allegations of sexual assault in Japan’s military were met with silence. So she’s speaking out

Rina Gonoi’s experience in the Japanese armed forces has caused her to seek systemic change in the way the military treats survivors. Michelle Ye Hee Lee and Julia Mio Inuma report

Rina Gonoi, a former member of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, filed a lawsuit over sexual harassment she experienced during training (Photo for The Washington Post by Shiho Fukada)

Female soldiers at the evacuation centre would carry heavy buckets of water so that Rina Gonoi, and others whose homes were destroyed by the devastating tsunami of 2011, could bathe. Gonoi, then 11, decided she, too, would become a soldier to help others. ​

But soon after joining the forces three years ago, Gonoi was sexually assaulted. When she spoke up, her allegations were repeatedly dismissed. She dropped out after just two years. ​​