<figure id="attachment_303185" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-303185" style="width: 5760px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3fedb35c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/03/aflo_23388420.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-303185" class="wp-caption-text">Sexual assault by a vice principal traumatized a female teacher (PHOTO: AFRO)</figcaption></figure>
 Ayaka Bakaoka (both pseudonyms), a teacher who was sexually assaulted by her vice principal, Masahiro Futamura, at an elementary school in Kyushu, Japan. We would like to <a href="https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/article/303174">look at</a> her painful experience <a href="https://friday.kodansha.co.jp/article/303174">following [Part 1: 31-year-old female teacher&#8217;s traumatic experience of &#8220;head teacher&#8217;s sexual assault&#8221; for an hour of nightmare]</a>.
 Three days after being sexually assaulted by the vice principal of the school where she worked, Ayaka was asked by the principal to renew her contract as a part-time teacher for one year. She accepts the offer, telling herself, &#8220;I&#8217;ll just have to put up with it.
 &#8211;I&#8217;m not going to be a teacher for another year.
 She decided to endure for one year for the sake of the children.
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 Ayaka went to school every day, suppressing her emotions. However, she had to face Nimura every day at school, even if she did not want to. After the incident, his face looked like a hideous monster to her, and her fear only grew.
 While at school, Ayaka took great care never to be alone with Futamura. She pretended not to notice if they passed each other in the hallways, and if she had a work errand that she had to tell him about, she would do so through another faculty member. If she showed even the slightest sign of weakness, she was afraid that she would be pressured into sexual intercourse.
 During the first semester, Ayaka managed to conduct classes despite her trepidation. After the summer break, when work resumed in the second semester, she began to experience abnormalities in her mind and body.
<h2> In an attempt to stabilize her mind, she drank alcohol, which she could not drink. &#8230;&#8230;</h2>
<figure id="attachment_303180" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-303180" style="width: 5184px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="24ed28f4"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/03/IMG_3661.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-303180" class="wp-caption-text"> More than 200 public school teachers a year are punished for sexual assault and other crimes (PHOTO: Kota Ishii)</figcaption></figure>
 Just hearing Nimura&#8217;s voice gives me goosebumps all over my body and makes me nauseous. He cannot eat, his weight is dropping rapidly, and the flesh on his cheeks is getting lumpy. In an attempt to stabilize his mind, he goes home and drinks sake, which he can&#8217;t drink enough of, so he drinks more and more.
 Ayaka says.
 I was later diagnosed with PTSD, but I think the symptoms were already present at that time; I could manage to get through the first semester, but from the second semester on, I think I was at my limit.
 One of the most severe symptoms was emotional anxiety. I couldn&#8217;t control my emotions and always felt unstable, yelling at people around me over nothing. My family was suspicious of me, and I didn&#8217;t get along with other people. I became more and more isolated.&#8221;
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 By mid-autumn, Ayaka felt she was at her physical and mental limits. But with a monthly income of a little over 150,000 yen, she had no savings to pay for an apartment, living expenses, scholarship and car loans, and car maintenance. If he were to give up his job now, he would not be able to afford even his own living, let alone his children&#8217;s classes.
 Although she managed to work until the third semester, Ayaka could no longer foresee what the future held. At the very least, it is impossible to work at this school. However, she wondered if she would be able to get another job soon. &#8230;&#8230;
 One day, Ayaka had a chance to talk with an old friend and discussed her current predicament. This led to a connection with a counselor at the Gender Equality Center. Since Ayaka had things to do in the next year and beyond, she gathered her courage and confided in them about the incident.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The counselor came up with a &quot;surprising conclusion.&quot;"></div>
<figure id="attachment_303179" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-303179" style="width: 4624px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d52220b0"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/03/20230323_134400.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-303179" class="wp-caption-text">In many cases, children are victimized. (Photo processed from an image by Kota Ishii; PHOTO by Kota Ishii)</figcaption></figure>
 The counselor assured us that this was a one-sided sexual assault by Futamura.
 She said, &#8220;This time, he is taking advantage of the hierarchical relationship at work, and our positions are not equal. Besides, his lack of awareness as a manager is also a problem. I think you should properly inform the school and the school board.&#8221;
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 Until then, Ayaka had been struggling with the idea that she was responsible for the incident. So, when he told her this, for the first time, she was able to consider herself a victim, and she felt a little lighter in her heart.
 At the end of March, Ayaka took advice from her counselor and put together the details of the incident, first telling the principal that she had been sexually victimized by Futamura. As soon as the principal heard about it, he was taken aback. Ayaka did not tell Nimura about the incident, but asked him to report it to the school board first. If she did not do so, there was a risk that the matter would be covered up.
 The principal agreed, and Ayaka returned to the science lab. However, something unexpected happened. Suddenly, Ninomura appeared in front of Ayaka alone. When Ayaka was frozen with fear, Futamura said, &#8220;I came here to apologize.
 I came here to apologize. I am sorry.&#8221;
 The principal must have broken his promise and talked to Futamura. He wanted to apologize and get it over with before it became a big problem.
<h2> That would be an act of indecent assault.</h2>
<figure id="attachment_303178" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-303178" style="width: 5184px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="380f6a2f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/03/IMG_3667.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-303178" class="wp-caption-text"> The sexual assault Ayaka suffered from her supervisor caused her a great deal of psychological damage (PHOTO: Kota Ishii).</figcaption></figure>
 Ayaka panicked and contacted a counselor. The counselor said that now that this had happened, she should consult the police. Nimura could use his position to obtain Ayaka&#8217;s address and other personal information, and could even come to her house. Fearing this, he told her that it would be better to have the police protect her.
 The counselor arranged for Ayaka to go to the local police station. The police officer told her the following.
 What happened a year ago constitutes an indecent act.
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 She was also told to speak with a lawyer in the future, and the police would also go around her house during their patrols.
 Later, an interview with Futamura was conducted by the Board of Education. Ayaka also cooperated with the investigation with the help of her lawyer. As a result, the school board explained that Futamura &#8220;generally&#8221; admitted the facts.
 In May, Ayaka began a clerical job at a local private company. Although she still had aspirations to become a teacher, her mental health was deteriorating, and her first priority was to settle the case. He was hopeful that a fair decision by the school board would help him recover mentally and in life, and that he might one day be able to teach again.
 The school board&#8217;s conclusion came in mid-May. I received a phone call from the school board and was told, &#8220;We are going to take action against vice principal Futamura.
 The decision was made to issue a written and written warning to the vice principal.
 What does this mean? The person in charge continued.
 The person in charge continued, &#8220;We have decided that a written warning is appropriate in this case. Therefore, the city board of education, rather than the prefectural board of education, will issue a written warning, stating that the behavior is &#8216;regrettable.
 Ayaka couldn&#8217;t finish the sentence.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" If it had been a student, he would have been expelled, but the vice principal gave him a written warning."></div>
<figure id="attachment_303188" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-303188" style="width: 4624px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="50d5cd4d"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/03/20230323_153609.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-303188" class="wp-caption-text">Ayaka had to quit not only the school but also the next place of employment, a private company (photo processed from an image by Kota Ishii; PHOTO: Kota Ishii)</figcaption></figure>
 The police told her that Futamura&#8217;s actions constituted &#8220;indecent assault. This made him feel that he was mentally and physically ill as a result of the incident, and he even had to quit his dream job as a teacher.
 Despite this, the decision of the Board of Education was neither a reprimand nor a suspension or even a pay cut. It is &#8230;&#8230; that Futamura can continue to work as before, only to be warned in writing by the city&#8217;s superintendent of education.
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 Ayaka is probably right in this sentiment. If a male student were to &#8220;indecently&#8221; assault a younger female student at a private school, he would certainly be expelled. Even a hundred percent would be suspension. However, if a vice principal were to commit &#8220;indecent assault&#8221; on a part-time female teacher, he would only be given a written warning, which I must say is inexcusable.
 What was even more surprising was the incident report from the Board of Education, which was partially disclosed through a lawyer. The &#8220;guidance&#8221; given to Futamura was described as follows.
 Principal&#8217;s Guidance
 I have instructed him to make efforts to maintain discipline and a high sense of ethics, and to make further efforts to prevent such an accident from happening again.
 Superintendent of Education&#8217;s Opinion
 We will strive to restore the trust of the public through further guidance and training.
 This was the punishment for a married vice principal in her mid-50s who lured an unmarried 31-year-old part-time teacher into her home and sexually assaulted her.
 Ayaka&#8217;s health deteriorated further due in part to the shock of this incident. She has recurring nightmares about the time she was attacked by Futamura, she suddenly can&#8217;t stop crying at work, she feels fear enough to jump up at the mere sound of a male voice, and she has flashbacks to the incident while commuting to work. &#8230;&#8230;
<h2> Sexual harassment even at my part-time job.</h2>
 On the recommendation of a family member, I went to a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with PTSD. She was then forced to resign from the private company that she had just entered after less than a year.
 Ayaka then filed a damage report with the police and went to court against the board of education, claiming damages.
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 Of course, the goal is not money. She could not overlook the fact that her social life was ruined because of the incident, while the perpetrator, Futamura, was still working in the same position without a care in the world. What would happen to the school, or even this country, if he admitted this?
 Ayaka prepared for the trial while working part-time a few hours a day. However, the work was more painful than she had imagined, partly because the symptoms of PTSD had become more pronounced. To top it off, she was again sexually harassed by a married man at her part-time job, and had to quit after only two months. She was unable to work due to hyperventilating and losing her voice.
 For the next year, Ayaka was unable to work at all. Her heart was torn to pieces. With the help of her parents, she managed to eat, but her health was deteriorating rapidly. He must have been in a state of depression. However, the medication prescribed at the hospital had strong side effects, and he could only try to improve his condition with herbal medicines.
 After that, Nimura&#8217;s lawyer frequently sent him settlement offers. They tried to settle out of court for money. The amount of the settlement rose to 500,000 yen, then to 1 million yen, but Ayaka had no intention of accepting any amount.
 However, Ayaka&#8217;s health continued to deteriorate, and she was told by the police that they could not gather enough evidence. She had erased all the short messages from Futamura out of fear, and had washed her clothes and other items from that time. Further fighting the case would only cost me more money and effort, and there was no hope of getting the desired result. So, with the advice of the police and my lawyer, I decided to settle out of court for 2 million yen.
 Ayaka says, &#8220;I wanted to settle out of court for 2 million yen.
 Some people might say that I fought for the 2 million yen settlement. But with living expenses for not being able to work for a year, court costs, and other expenses, the money disappeared in no time at all. I was totally in the red. The reason I still fought was to argue that the school and the school board were wrong after all.&#8221;
 In fact, Ayaka may have lost more than she gained in the fight. In fact, Ayaka may have lost more than she gained in the fight, even if we only look at the psychological aspect.
 Even now, seven years after the incident, she still suffers from PTSD, which causes her body to freeze up in fear when a man makes advances to her, her heart palpitates violently on rainy days, and she suddenly begins to cry because she cannot control her emotions.
 Conversely, the sexual violence that Nimura committed in a light-hearted manner, taking advantage of his position as vice principal, had broken Ayaka&#8217;s heart to such an extent. That is the real horror of sexual violence, which is invisible to the naked eye.
 Ayaka says, &#8220;Maybe I didn&#8217;t raise my voice.
 I think there are many people like me in other professions, just because they don&#8217;t speak out. That&#8217;s why I think it was worth fighting for, and that&#8217;s why I spoke up this time. I hope it will help many victims to not blame themselves and to talk to someone about it.&#8221;
 During this interview, Ayaka shuffled her hips several times as she recalled the fear and frustration she felt at the time.
 Perhaps some men might think, &#8220;What&#8217;s the big deal?&#8221; Some might think, &#8220;Is it really such a big deal? But for Ayaka, it is something she has to talk about.
 Despite the fact that many women victims have spoken out about this kind of issue, little has changed. This is because the society has been downplaying their courage and silencing them.
 It is time for us to take this seriously, face it, and move on. We need to work for the betterment of society, not for self-preservation.

 Born in Tokyo in 1977. Nonfiction writer. He has reported and written about culture, history, and medicine in Japan and abroad. His books include "Absolute Poverty," "The Body," "The House of 'Demons'," "43 Killing Intent," "Let's Talk about Real Poverty," "Social Map of Disparity and Division," and "Reporto: Who Kills Japanese Language Ability?

 Kota Ishii

 Afro Kota Ishii

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 Nonfiction writer Kota Ishii delves into the depths of Japanese society!

Nausea and cheeks lumped together&#8230; A 31-year-old female teacher suffered PTSD from the vice principal&#8217;s indecent assault &#8220;super lenient punishment by the school&#8221;.

Nausea and cheeks lumped together… A 31-year-old female teacher suffered PTSD from the vice principal’s indecent assault “super lenient punishment by the school”.

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