A Cambodian woman who worked as a technical intern at a strawberry farm in Tochigi Prefecture has filed a lawsuit alleging that she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by the male manager and was forced to have an abortion after becoming pregnant. On the other hand, the male manager has denied the allegations, saying that they are “completely untrue.” Plaintiff’s legal team: “Sexual abuse has been committed by taking advantage of an extremely vulnerable position.” On the 16th, a lawsuit was filed regarding “sexual assault” suffered by a technical intern trainee. Three Cambodian women in their twenties have filed a lawsuit in the Tokyo District Court against the male owner of a strawberry farm in Tochigi Prefecture where they were doing their internship, seeking a total of approximately 92 million yen in damages, alleging that they were repeatedly sexually assaulted by him. According to the lawsuit, the three women came to Japan as technical intern trainees. Each of them had been living in poverty in Cambodia and had come to Japan with large amounts of debt to financially support their families, and had been working on a strawberry farm since 2022. This was my first time in Japan and my first work experience. They claim that it was difficult for them to understand everyday conversations in Japanese, and that the male manager took advantage of their weak position to repeatedly sexually assault them, as well as to make them work long hours and not pay them overtime, among other actions that could be described as controlling. Furthermore, one of these women, Ms. A, was made pregnant and then had an “induced abortion” without sufficient explanation. What on earth is going on? It’s December 2022, about five months after I started working. Ms. A rode in a car with the male manager and accompanied him to the meeting. After the training, she was taken to a room in an unfamiliar building and sexually assaulted. She repeatedly refused, but the male manager threatened her, saying, “If you refuse, you will be sent back to Cambodia.” Ms. A had no choice but to comply, and after being sexually assaulted multiple times, she found out she was pregnant the following month. The male manager then asked Ms. A to sign, saying that it was a necessary document to be submitted to the clinic, and Ms. A did as she was told and wrote her name. In fact, the document was a “consent form for abortion,” and she only realized that she had had an abortion after the surgery was over. The male manager reportedly made a gesture of handcuffs and said to Mr. A, “Don’t tell anyone, or you’ll be handcuffed.” The male manager also sexually assaulted two other technical intern trainees, including groping their breasts. The three sought help from a labor union in Gifu via social media in April last year, and were rescued the next day. The person in charge is… Kitajima Azusa of the Gifu General Labor Union, who rescued the three technical intern trainees “I thought this was no ordinary thing. The three of them got into our car without many luggage. I think it took a lot of courage to ask for help.” Meanwhile, in an interview with Nippon Television, the male manager said, “Mr. A tried to get me into a relationship. That happened a few times, but he never threatened me or anything. It was her own wish to have an abortion. The doctor explained the situation to the patient and she understood the situation before having the abortion. I was shocked because the allegations are completely different to the facts,” he said, indicating his intention to fight the allegations in court. 12/17 (Tue) 10:25 NTV news nnn.
I’ll attack that side once the facts are known. I can’t decide at this point. People who are attacking one side or the other should be careful of cognitive bias.
Who should I believe: the manager who accepts technical intern trainees (those guys…) who are receiving international criticism, or the technical intern trainees (the latest criminals) who, although it must be difficult to understand everyday conversation, can understand that they were threatened with “If you say no, we’ll send you back to Cambodia”?
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