September 13, 2015

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo is proudly arguing that the government-sponsored war bills will increase the number of female Japanese Self-Defense Forces members joining in missions abroad as part of his policy to “create a society where women can shine”. However, many examples of female U.S. soldiers engaged in overseas missions throw doubts on this argument.

In response to an Akahata inquiry, the Defense Ministry said that the SDF has so far sent 520 female members overseas. Of them, 150 were dispatched for reconstruction missions in Iraq, 60 for anti-piracy missions in the sea off Somalia, and 13 for the UN PKO missions in South Sudan.

PM Abe on August 21 at a House of Councilors Special Committee meeting on the war bills said, “Women’s active role in the field of international cooperation is essential.” He then hinted that he will increase the scope of women SDF members’ overseas activities under the name of the “creation of a society in which women can shine”.

Meanwhile, regarding possible problems in accordance with an increase in overseas dispatch of women SDF personnel, Kyoto Women’s University professor Ichikawa Hiromi cited a report indicating that 40% of U.S. servicewomen dispatched to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were sexually abused by their male colleagues. She said, “Military personnel spend most of their time in an enclosed space at a military camp. This imposes severe stress on them and consequently leads to the frequent occurrence of sexual abuse of women, including rape.”

The professor also pointed to the fact that recently more and more female U.S. personnel are involved in military combat because they are assigned not only to medical and transport activities but also to logistics activities which are easily subject to military attacks. Ichikawa said, “There are many reports about female soldiers who commit child abuse such as neglect after returning from overseas duties.”

The war bills are designed to provide logistics support to U.S. troops. If the bills are enacted, female SDF personnel will be highly likely to face the same situations as do women U.S. soldiers.