Japan Aff Michigan
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Rape AcceptedPatriarchy in militarism creates an ideology that characterizes rape as “blowing off steam” Transnational Institute, 07 (TNI, “Sex Crimes and Prostitution”, March 2007, http://www.tni.org/archives/act/16374) Massive The heady mix of machismo and militarism that pervades US army bases generally means trouble for relations with local women. The areas surrounding many bases have high levels of prostitution, while the government agreements protecting US soldiers from prosecution mean that sex crimes are rarely met with adequate severity. US military authorities have tended toward the idea that prostitution provides a useful way for soldiers stationed thousands of miles from wives or girlfriends to “let off steam”. The welfare of the women providing these “rest and recreational” opportunities is rarely of concern: prostitution around bases and ports used by US navy ships in the Philippines and Thailand fuels the trafficking of women throughout south-east Asia, while living conditions and standards of health amongst sex workers are often low. The attitude of US army doctors to local women seeking HIV tests illustrates military attitudes – women are tested to ensure that they are a safe, HIV-free commodity for the soldiers, but are not offered safe sex advice or supplies to protect themselves. No Help for VictimsAfter a rape, women often do not receive medical care or proper attention from the police Womensenews.org, 09 (Catherine Makino, “Rape Victim Case of Police Abuse in Japan”, 1-2-09, http://www.womensenews.org/story/the-world/090102/rape-victim-presses-case-police-abuse-japan) Massive "I have been asking since the day I was raped," she says. "I even wrote letters to President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. military and government officials. They still have not gotten back to me." Jane alleges that after the rape, she went to the police who then kept her in custody for 12 hours. She was afraid they would arrest her if she left and says she was in shock. The police moved her from a small room, then to the scene of the crime, then back to the station in a large room with other people. She claims she was not fed, allowed to see a doctor, or given fresh underwear. "I went to the Japanese police to seek help, sadly they didn't believe me," said Jane, who made her standard request for anonymity to protect the privacy of her three sons. "They interrogated me for several hours and the entire time I begged them to take me to the hospital. But they said I wasn't hurt enough and, if I was, then I had to show them where. I was told that on-duty doctors are for urgent patients and rape victims were not urgent." NarrativeThis narrative describes the suffering of Okinawan woman who are senselessly raped by people they describe as war machines CounterPunch News Service, 08 (“A Message from the Women of Okinawa to All US GIs in Okinawa, 2-21-08, http://www.counterpunch.org/cpnews02212008.html) Massive Once again, American GIs have raped an Okinawan girl, one from junior high. We are angry. We do not believe that all of you are rapists. But given the long history of similar crimes over the sixty years from the Battle of Okinawa continuing to today, one could be forgiven for thinking so. If you are a female GI, can you trust these male GIs ? We know that this incident is only the tip of the iceberg. There have been so many rape victims who have told no one and wept silently in their beds, that you are probably confident that you could get away with it, aren't you. But those days are now over. We are not going to let us and our mothers, our sisters and our daughters be humiliated any longer. Whatever you do, wherever you go, we'll be watching you. You have been turned into killing machines. The military organization has sought to teach you to see people not as people, but as something to kill. It is that same training that has taught you see us as someone you can rape casually. Go back to your hometown, where your mother is, and try to get yourself back to being a decent human being. We do not hate you as individuals. But as members of the US military organization, you are unwelcome here. Maybe you imagine you are protecting Okinawa. But because you are here, we never feel safe. Because you are here, we feel constant fear. You think that because the US military shed blood to seize Okinawa in World War II, the place belongs to you and you can do anything you want here, don't you. But whatever countries or governments may have won or lost whatever wars, we have our dignity, our honor, and our freedom, and these are our islands, our land, our sky, our sea. It is here that we maintain the chain of life, giving birth to children, and raising them to be adults. This is the women of Okinawa. And this is what we are proud of. We will not allow you to continue to insult the pride, the honor, the dignity of us and our mothers, sisters and daughters. Go back to America. Now. This narrative explains the violence that can occur daily against women, even children, in Okinawa Eiko, 05-Okinawa Women’s Act against Military Violence (Asato, Transnational Institute, “The Human Right of Children and Women under the US Military Administration: Raped Lives”, 7-18-05, http://tniclone.test.koumbit.net/archives/asem-seoul_008eiko) Massive I was seven years old when Yumiko, who was six years old at the time, was raped and murdered by a 31-year-old American solider. It happened on September 3, 1955, ten years after the war ended. The incident occurred in Ishikawa City in the central part of the Main Island of Okinawa. Yumiko went to kindergarten that day. She went missing at about 8 p.m. after she went to see a movie alone. It is hard to understand at present that a six year old girl would go to see a movie, but reading newspapers from those days, one sees that people used to live in one or two-room houses, and most children played outside until the sun set. It is still bright until eight in the evening during summer in Okinawa. Ishikawa City was originally a quiet rural area with a population of about 2,000, but after the war, detention camps were built and the population grew to over 30,000. The Okinawa Council, Okinawa's post-war administrative organization, was established in the city, making the city a temporary political center. However, there were incessant crimes committed by US soldiers in the area around Ishikawa City, which was rapidly urbanized. This narrative exposes the fear that women face every day as a result of the threat military men have constructed through acts of gendered violence Kirk* and Okazawa-Rey**, 01-*Ph.D. in political sociology from the London School of Economics, founding member of the East Asia-US-Puerto Rico Women's Network Against Militarism, chaired the Women's Studies Program at Antioch College (1992-1995), Jane Watson Irwin Visiting Chair in Women's Studies at Hamilton College (1999-2001), Rockefeller Fellowship in Women's Studies (University of Hawaii, 2002), **Ed.D. from Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Director of Women’s Leadership Institute and Visitng Professor in Women’s Studies at Mills College (2002-2005), founding member of the International Network of Women Against Militarism) (Gwyn and Margo, Frontline Feminisms: Women, War, and Resistance, ed. by Marguerite R. Waller and Jennifer Rycenga, page 161, accessed via Google Books) Massive This particular rape prompted bitter memories of many other assaults on women and girls over a fifty-year period. Women who had never talked about this issue in public began to speak out. At a meeting in Berkeley, as part of the Okinawa Women’s America Peace Caravan in February 1996, Mitsue Tomiyama said: What has happened recently has caused me to look back. When I was a child, U.S. troops found their way into residential areas. My mother and I would hide under the house to avoid being attacked and raped…. I remember some very beautiful girls in the neighborhood hitching rides to school on military trucks. One friend was pulled up on the truck and raped. She tried to get away. She jumped, or was push off the truck and died. Her mother was filled with fear and suffering. She only went out when she had to. 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