Manga depicting sexual abuse at school conveys “the reality of children’s suffering

I realized that I too had a curse placed on me by society as I drew “Who did what I couldn’t say? I realized that I had a curse placed on me by society. If I hadn’t drawn this work, I might not have been able to recognize it, and I might even have been in danger of second-raping those who were suffering.

This is what Saikimako, the author of the manga ” Who’s the one who did what I can’t say? the author of the manga “Who Did What I Can’t Say? She has been drawing manga on social issues such as welfare, child poverty, and nursing care.

In “Who Did Something I Can’t Say? depicts the issue of “school sexual harassment” in schools, and was serialized in the e-zine Hatsukis in 2019. The story has been picked up by numerous media outlets and has generated a huge response.

A shocking work, but the reality is…

The final volume, Volume 6, was released in November 2021, but Saiki says now that the work is complete, “I honestly feel that I didn’t draw enough, no matter how much I tried.

I interviewed for about a year and a half before starting the series, but during the series, things I wanted to know and things I thought I couldn’t draw without knowing kept coming up, so I kept interviewing and drawing. Originally, the prototype of this work was to depict various problems faced by the students, centering on the school nurse, and school sexual harassment was one of the “various problems”.

In my previous work, “God’s Back,” I talked to many people about the issue of child poverty, and one of them said, “I was able to confide my feelings only to the nurse teacher. The school nurse doesn’t judge the students, so the nurse’s office is the only place in the school where they feel safe.

The role of the nurse’s office was also described in the book “Report on the Nurse’s Office” by Chika Akiyama, a non-fiction writer who is a close friend of mine, and I thought, “I can develop a story to uncover the problem from here.

However, as I proceeded with my research, I found that the problem of sexual violence by teachers, especially among school sexual harassment, was too big. When I learned that there were many victims who were still suffering from trauma even after they became adults, I thought, ‘This is not just one of the problems, but I have to do my best to portray it well.

School sexual harassment is sexual harassment that occurs in schools and other educational settings. It includes cases of teachers harassing each other, students harassing each other, and teachers harassing parents, but the most serious cases are where teachers are the perpetrators and students are the victims. The most serious cases are those in which the teacher is the perpetrator and the student is the victim, because the teacher has power over the student and takes advantage of his or her position.

According to a survey by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) released on December 21, 2021, 200 public elementary, junior high, and high school teachers were disciplined or admonished for indecent behavior or sexual harassment in fiscal 2020. Of these, 96 were cases in which students were victims of “sexual violence or sexual crimes.

For the first time, the survey also looked into the status of criminal complaints, and found that in 30 cases, no charges were filed because they did not constitute a crime, and in 39 cases, no charges were filed because the victim or guardian did not want to file a complaint. These are just the ones that have surfaced, and it is likely that there are many more that are happening under the surface.

The Dark Side of Sexual Violence by Teachers

“Who did the unspeakable? In “Who Did What I Can’t Tell You?”, the victims of sexual violence by teachers are revealed from a phone call received by Rio Kamio, a school nurse at a junior high school.

She is baffled by the incoherent message, “There is a time bomb in your school,” and suspects it is a prank call, but it turns out to be a heartbreaking accusation from a former student.

In addition to their impressions of the work, some readers shared their past experiences with us, saying, “Actually, this happened to me when I was little,” or “I didn’t understand it at the time, but maybe that’s what happened. This is something that I felt during my interviews, but there were so many people who were victims of sexual harassment but were unable to tell us.

Not only school sexual harassment, but also sexual harassment among elementary and junior high school students is often noticed after they grow up, because they do not have much knowledge about sex and are not aware that they have been victimized. In the film, I described it as a ‘time bomb,’ but some people suffer from depression without being aware of the damage they have done, and as if it were about to explode, intense symptoms such as suicide attempts appear.

There is nothing wrong with the victim.

There are many cases where people feel that there is something wrong with them, but are unable to tell others. In many cases, they feel ashamed to tell others about their sexual abuse, or they can’t articulate it well, but they also feel that they will be blamed, saying, ‘Wasn’t it your fault, too? But many people are reluctant to talk about it because they are afraid that they will be blamed, that they will get angry, or that they will not be believed.

Who did the unspeakable? The title “Who did what I can’t tell you?” is a double-meaning, as it includes the reality and feelings of the victims who can’t tell what happened to them, or who can’t report the damage. What is it that makes them “unable to speak out”? As I was drawing, I was thinking that perhaps it has something to do with the ‘curse placed on us by this society.

Mr. Saiki then gave the example of a character named Hirate-san who appears in the story. Ms. Hirate-san is summoned outside the school by Sugisaki, the advisor of the club activities, to give her special guidance, and the two of them are left alone, but when Risei enters the scene, the situation is exposed to the school.

However, when Rion steps in, the school is exposed to the situation. It is true that Ms. Hirate was the target of sexual harassment at school, and she may have been aware of it.

If I hadn’t drawn this manga, when I hear from people who have experienced something like Hirate’s, I would have thought, ‘But they didn’t actually do anything to her, did they? “Nothing happened, right?” That’s exactly what Dr. Kishi does in his book. That’s exactly the kind of “second rape” that pushes the victim over the edge, just like Dr. Kishi in the story.

Why on earth did I think this way? When I think about it, I also think about the voices around me saying, “Why would you do such a thing? and the suppression of “I have to put up with this much,” I realized that I had unconsciously made up my mind about it while working on the piece.

I realized as I painted that I had unconsciously assumed it. It is a curse that is placed on us as we live in such a society. I think it’s a really deep-rooted problem.

With the help of her colleagues, Kishi-sensei and Takeya-sensei, who showed their understanding, Risei confronts Sugisaki in an attempt to break the cycle of damage.

The story comes to an end in the sixth and final volume, but the victims must live the rest of their lives with deep scars. In the final six volumes, the story comes to an end, but the victims still have to live their lives with deep scars. We see in painful detail victims such as Satsuki, who is so broken that she can no longer live her daily life, and Haruka, who suffers from a sense of guilt, thinking that if only she had spoken up earlier, the number of victims would not have increased.

As for the ending, I thought that there might be readers who wanted something more satisfying.

However, from the time I started researching before the series, I knew it wouldn’t be a story of good and evil, and that I couldn’t do it. The more I learned, the stronger I felt that there was no perfect salvation for this problem. There may have been some readers who felt a bit bewildered after reading the story, but I think this was the right choice for this work.

The Meaning of “Visualizing” What is Considered Taboo

I can’t say for sure that there won’t be people who are hurt by what I’ve written in the manga. I can’t say that there won’t be people who are hurt by what I’ve done in the manga, so I at least wanted to gain knowledge so that I wouldn’t depict the wrong things,” said Saiki, who drew this work through a series of in-depth interviews. When I asked her why she has continued to depict social issues, she replied, “Like the ‘curse of society’ I mentioned earlier, I want to ‘visualize’ things that are often considered taboo and difficult to see.

Not only school sexual harassment, but I don’t think that all victims of sexual harassment necessarily want to speak out.

I don’t think all victims of sexual harassment want to speak up. There must be people who don’t want to tell anyone, or don’t want anyone to know about it, keeping it to themselves. This is even more so in today’s social atmosphere. It’s not something that a third party can force you to do, and it’s not the right thing to do.

However, if a person wants to speak up and report the damage, we need to have a society where they can do so, and a society that can protect those who speak up.

In order to achieve this, I think it is important to make these invisible or hidden issues more visible. I think that by making them visible, we can give people a chance to think and talk about them.

There is a memorable episode in the film where Dr. Kishi learns that his daughter has been hiding the fact that she was a victim of sexual abuse, and he is unsure of what to say to her. In a society where “curses” are prevalent, how can we protect children? How can we protect children in a society where “curses” are prevalent, and how can we prevent our loved ones from having to suffer the pain of “not being able to say”?

We adults need to acquire knowledge, think about it, and break the curse. We must aim for a society where there is no “unspoken” pain. Of course, we must also make efforts to prevent crimes from occurring.

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Saikimako: Debuted as a manga artist in 2000. She won the “Poverty Journalism Award 2014” special prize for “The House of the Sun – Supported by Public Assistance” (2001), which focuses on public assistance. He has published manga on social issues, such as “God’s Back – Children in Poverty” (’14) on the theme of child poverty, and “Family Promise – I Want to Support You” (’17) on the theme of nursing care and elderly NEETs.

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When junior high school nurse teacher Risei receives a phone call, she is told, “Your school has a time limit.
She thought it was a prank call, but…
However, she learns about the sexual violence that used to take place at this school, and that the horrific act is now underway again.
Rio’s lonely struggle to stop the cycle of damage and to save the victims from hell begins!

Who did the unspeakable? (Kindle Edition) is available here.