★第二部：日本の#Me Too を個人から社会の問題へ
Part Two: #MeToo in Japan - personal issues become social issues

M: 本も出版し、被害者同士の連携の中心になっていますか？
M: Now that your book has been published, do you feel like it has created a bond of solidarity between you and other victims of rape and sexual assault?

S: いえ、東京にいないのでなかなか難しいですが、連絡を取り合い強い絆を感じています。
 ある日カフェでミーティングをしている際に、突然ひとりの女性が声をかけてくださいました。「私は時効になってしまったから、頑張って欲しい、私は時効になってしまって何もできなかったから」と彼女の目は涙でいっぱいでした。被害を受けた傷に時効なんてないし、「抵抗したか？」も問うべきではないんです。
 スウェーデンのある調査で７割は性暴力をふるわれたら、体が凍り付いてしまうという調査結果も出ています。
 
S: It’s hard to gauge because I am not in Tokyo anymore, but I feel very connected to the people I write to. We have a strong bond. 
 One day, while I was having a meeting at a café, a lady passing by asked me, out of the blue, if I was Shiori. She　told me that the statute of limitations had passed on her case. She told me that she wanted me to carry on fighting for the cause, because she couldn’t anymore. Her eyes were full of tears. The scar from the rape will never go away and for the scar, statue of limitation doesn’t matter. I believe there should be no statute of limitations on rape cases, and I also think it is unacceptable to ask if the victim “fought back” when it happened. The discussion of rape should center on whether consent was given, instead of the ability of the victim to prove that they were under threat of violence by how much they struggled.
 One study in Sweden shows that 70% of sexual assault victims froze when threatened or physically beaten during the crime.

M: あなたの事件を受けて、政治家たちも動き始めました。
M: Do you feel that you got any support from politicians?
 
S:　政治的な問題にしたくないのですが、法律や制度を変えるため、あらゆる政治家に、私が話せることを話そうと決めました。昨年秋に超党派の調査会が発足して、12月にもヒアリングを行いました。
 
S: I didn’t want to politicize the issue, but decided to discuss what I could with politicians in order to change the relevant laws and policies surrounding it. A nonpartisan investigative committee was launched last autumn, and a hearing was also held in December.
 
M:　日本では#Me Too の運動はどうなっていますか？
M:  What about the #MeToo movement in Japan?

S:　人気ブロガーのはあちゅうさんが元上司のセクハラを告白して大きな話題になりました。また、自らの体験を告白した小林明子さんというジャーナリストもいます。私の周りでもみんなが#Me Too を語り始めていますが、大きな運動というまでには育っていないのかもしれません。
アメリカではワインスタイン個人の話を超えて、みんなで話し合うべき事実となっているけれど、日本では加害者と被害者の問題になってしまう。
 
S:  A popular blogger called Hachu shared her experience of sexual harassment involving her former boss last December, which blew up in the media. Journalist Akiko Kobayashi also shared her experience.
 The people I know, friends and family who run in my circle, have all started talking about #MeToo, but I’d hesitate to call it a “big movement” in Japan.
 That’s where the difference lies: in the US, the media isn’t reporting just on Harvey Weinstein, or on one perpetrator – it’s become bigger than that. It’s become a movement of unavoidable truth that must be discussed, out in public instead of in the shadows. In Japan, the problem continues to be private – it remains between the parties involved, the victim and the perpetrator, and has nothing to do with society.