Activists’ Biography and/or Interviews
JAPAN
SHIORO ITO'S INTERVIEW
In 2015, Ito filed criminal charges of sexual assault against Yamaguchi, but there was little discussion or reporting in Japan at the time. In 2016, prosecutors ruled there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.
Until 2017, Ito decided to show up and make accusations. After the release of this report, Ito became a representative figure of #METOO in Japan. Her experience shocked the international community first, and then Japan took it seriously.
At that time, she received a lot of anonymous abuse and physical threats, and she began to be recognized by passers-by on the street. Ito believes that her appearance is not a heroic act. She just wants to survive the trauma. "Speaking the truth is the only way for me to survive. I can lose my job, but I cannot lose my faith."
Ito remembers the day of his first press conference, "A reporter friend I respect told me that I should wear something like a black suit jacket, people will believe me more easily. But I said no, I want to wear clothes that make me feel comfortable." She was wearing a white shirt with the first two buttons unbuttoned, presenting a normal look. This decision caused her to suffer the most serious public opinion attack in the whole incident. "Look, she's a slut!" She repeated the judgment of the public opinion at the time and said "This is also the reason why I decided not to button up. I don't want people to have only one kind of sexual assault understand the method."
She believes that facing the world head-on in her own way is enough to have an impact on society. She found people have only a single imagination of the perpetrator, and anything that does not fit the imagination seems to automatically prove the innocence of the perpetrator. "Thinking of what a victim or perpetrator should look like and how they should act is part of the rape myth, which is why I think it’s important to show up and speak with my face, voice and name. Because my life still has to go on, just like everyone else." "Everyone has their own way of survival, and I can't teach others a set of "trauma survival methods". Prioritize that you can survive the way you are'." "I often tell other survivors that you know this pain best and that others can criticize your pain or judge what happened to you at will, but what happened? You know best, so the first thing is, you have to believe in your truth, you have to believe in yourself." "And for me, my way of survival is to speak the truth" she said flatly.
In addition, Ito thinks that this road cannot be walked alone. "I have a lot of friends to help, and many people risk losing their jobs to help. This is the most beautiful thing I have experienced in the past three years."
"Recently I also learned fighting boxing, not for attacking, but to help me feel that I can control my body." She believes that it is necessary to reconnect yourself with the body, connect people with care, and form a healthy and mutual support community. Not just survivors of sexual assault, in a society where individuals are gradually losing connection and care, how to heal the injury, how to grow strength to support yourself and others.
KOREA
SEO JI-HYUN’S INTERVIEW
An exclusive interview with South Korean prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun. After being sexually harassed by prosecutor Ahn Tae-gun, she was retaliated against for reporting. In 2015, she was transferred without warning.
On January 29, 2018, Seo Ji-Hyun first released an article "I Have A Dream" on the prosecutor's intranet, accusing An Taigen of sexual harassment. She said, "Last year, I was very scared when I went on a TV show to expose the sexual harassment of my superiors. Because the victim not only had to tell everyone her name, but her own face had to be seen. Korean society at that time generally criticized the victim instead of the perpetrator. Therefore, when such things happened, the victim often choose to endure because they were afraid of being hurt again." "But I can't bear it. The prosecution organization should be the most righteous place, but they choose to hide this injustice. I can't bear it anymore."
She said, "For eight years, I kept thinking about what I did wrong, whether I did something wrong, and it was very painful. I want to tell all victims of crime, victims of sexual violence, that this is absolutely not your fault. This incident took me eight years to realize."
When people suspected that she was not a "victim" due to her strong and brave appearance, she responded "Generally speaking, it is not only the courts that demand to show the 'victims' what they should be, but also the society. If there is not enough pain, the law will not believe it. But I think the victims must be happier than anyone else. So I try to show happiness, not pain." She doesn't want to be a typical victim in the eyes of others, but sheds tears when she wants to, and laughs unscrupulously when she feels happy. As the "victim" in her population, she has the right to decide what appearance and posture she should appear in, and in her daily life, she slowly regains her strength and recovery. What she did was not to win the trust of anyone, but to firmly believe that this is the case, and how the judiciary should respond.
Born a woman, born a Korean woman, gender is like original sin. However, she believes that women's voices will never disappear because they are buried for a while. She affirms that "There will be changes, and there must be changes."
Seo Ji-Hyun started the #Metoo movement in South Korea, but the ultimate goal is to hope that one day there will be no more #Metoo, because in that future, no one will be oppressed.
HONG KONG
LUI LAI YIU’S POST
On November 30, 2017, Lui Lai Yiu, an athlete of the Hong Kong track and field team, revealed on social media (Facebook) that she was sexually assaulted by a former coach of extracurricular activities in middle school 10 years ago. She hopes to set an example and help more victims so that they can Stand up bravely. Her own courage to speak the truth was inspired by McKayla Maroney.
Also, she hopes to use this to arouse everyone's attention to child sexual abuse, encourage unfortunate victims to stand up bravely, and let the public understand that sexual issues are not embarrassing, shameful, or something that cannot be discussed publicly. She also hopes that those who unfortunately have similar experiences to her will have the courage to seek help from those around them and stop condoning and encourage bad people to do bad things.
USA
U.S. Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney, 21, posted a statement on Twitter with the #MeToo hashtag, saying that after a series of allegations were made against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, a large number of women began coming forward about their experiences of sexual harassment and assault. As a result, she was inspired to share her own story.
Maroney described she was sexually abused by Nassar, the USA Gymnastics team doctor, since she was 13 at national team training camp. Maroney said the sexually abuse didn't end until she left the sport. In the statement she posted on Twitter, she said that “People, institutions, organizations, especially those in positions of power, etc. need to be held accountable for their inappropriate actions and behavior.” “Our silence has given the wrong people power for too long, and it's time to take our power back. And remember, it's never too late to speak up."
Tarana Burke‘s Speech:Me Too is a movement, not a moment
In 2006, Tarana Burke was consumed by a desire to do something about the sexual violence she saw in her community. She took out a piece of paper, wrote "Me Too" across the top and laid out an action plan for a movement centered on the power of empathy between survivors. More than a decade later, she reflects on what has since become a global movement and makes a powerful call to dismantle the power and privilege that are building blocks of sexual violence. She wants the suvivors not to lean into their trauma, but to lean into the joy that they curate in their lives. "We owe future generations nothing less than a world free of sexual violence" she says. "I believe we can build that world."