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SOURCE: 日 방송계 여성 70% "성희롱 피해"…불필요 신체 접촉도 만연
A survey shows that 7 out of 10 women working in the Japanese broadcasting industry have experienced sexual harassment at work, with some suffering severe distress that they considered taking their own lives.
According to the report on the 4th, a research team led by Professor Togo Tanaka of the University of Tokyo Graduate School surveyed183 former and current broadcasting professionals (62 men, 119 women) between May last year and January this year. Among female respondents, 70.6% (84 people) answered that they had experienced sexual harassment.
The types of abuse varied. 44.5% (53 women) said they experienced 'unwanted physical contact,' while 14.3% (17 women) said they were 'mobilized as companions for sexual hospitality.'
Notably, about 10% of female respondents said they had been forced to have sexual relations.
Among male respondents, 32.3% (20 people) said they had heard sexual harassment remarks, and 6.5% (4 people) reported being forced into unwanted physical contact.
Specifically, there are also cases of individuals being asked about their body shape in studios and then being forcibly hugged, or were brought to the executives' drinking parties as 'companions' and exposed to sexual conversations.
The aftermath was severe. 39 respondents said they had 'thought about suicide,' and 30 reported changing their workplace or profession because they could no longer endure the harassment.
The survey was conducted to understand the reality of the industry following issues of sexual exploitation in the entertainment world last year, including those surrounding former SMAP leader, Masahiro Nakai.
The research team pointed out, "Broadcasting stations, which are supposed to serve the public interest, hold a contradiction in that they neglect human rights violations within their own walls."
