Japan Press Weekly

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2016 May 25 - 31 [US FORCES]

US military rape victim calls for SOFA revision

Accompanied by Japanese Communist Party Dietmember Akamine Seiken, Catherine Jane Fisher, an Australian woman living in Japan who was raped by a U.S. serviceman in 2002, demanded on May 24 that the Japanese government revise the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

She also demanded that 24-hour rape crisis centers be established in Japan to help rape survivors.

She urgently made these demands following the recent rape and murder of a 20-year-old Okinawan woman by a former U.S. marine.

Fisher was sexually assaulted by a USS Kitty Hawk Navy sailor in Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture fourteen years ago. The perpetrator, however, ran back to the U.S. while still on trial in Japan. A U.S. court in 2013 acknowledged that the compensation ordered to the suspect by the Japanese court is valid, but she accepted only one dollar because all she wanted was to win the case for future rape victims, not receive the compensation.

Showing the U.S. court judgement, she criticized the Japanese government for neglecting to give any support to rape victims, and demanded that the SOFA be modified so that Japan can oblige the U.S. military in Japan to abide by Japanese laws.

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More than 70% in poll: SOFA revision is needed

Opinion polls released on May 29 and 30 by major news media show that more than 70% of respondents call for a review of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

According to the Kyodo News survey, those who answered “the SOFA should be revised” accounted for 71%, far exceeding the 17.9% answering “there is no need for SOFA revisions”.

In the Asahi News Network (ANN) poll, 89% answered that it is necessary to revise the SOFA.

Past related articles:
> Okinawans protest alleged murder of Japanese woman by ex-US marine [May 21, 2016]
> Japan takes over U.S. responsibility to pay 3 million yen to rape victim [May 21, 2008]