Shiori Itō
Shiori Itō | |
|---|---|
伊藤詩織 | |
| Born | 1989 (age 34–35) |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist, filmmaker |
| Notable work | Black Box (2017), Japan's Secret Shame (2018) |
| Website | www |
Shiori Itō (伊藤 詩織, Itō Shiori, born 1989) is a Japanese journalist and filmmaker. Her work focuses on gender equality and human rights issues.
Career
In 2013 Itō attended university in New York where she majored in journalism and photography. Later she interned at Thomson Reuters. She is now a freelance journalist and filmmaker.
Sexual assault litigation
While interning at Thomson Reuters, Itō was at an izakaya in Ebisu, Shibuya with Noriyuki Yamaguchi, a prominent TV journalist and acquaintance of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. She became intoxicated and was told to go back to the hotel where she accuses Yamaguchi of raping her.[1] Yamaguchi denied the allegation, saying they had consensual intercourse. She said her experience with Japan's legal system showed her that victims of sex crimes were undermined and ignored. She called for the Japanese parliament to update Japan's laws regarding rape, which were over a century old. She explains how she could not get information on which hospital provides rape kits without going through a preliminary interview in person. When she went to the police, she was discouraged from filing a report, and informed her career would be ruined for no reason if she did this. She was told she did not act like a victim, and had to be interviewed by several officers, including one who made her reenact the rape with a dummy while he took pictures. Although they initially said they would arrest Yamaguchi, the case and charges were unexpectedly dropped. Ito then went to the media, but no one would take her story. When she spoke about the experience at a press conference, she made national news and immediately started receiving a negative backlash, hate mail, and threats.[2][3] She has been unsuccessful in her attempts to have criminal charges brought against Yamaguchi, but as of 2018 she was still pursuing a civil case against him, which he was defending.[1]
Her book Black Box, talks about the alleged incident and her experiences that followed.
Awards
- Free Press Association of Japan- Freedom Of The Press Award (2018) for Black Box[4]
- New York Festivals- silver award (2018) for directing Undercover Asia: Lonely Deaths[5]
References
- ^ a b "Japan's secret shame". BBC. 20 June 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- ^ "Saying #MeToo in Japan". POLITICO. January 2, 2018. Archived from the original on January 6, 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Anna Stewart; Euan McKirdy; Junko Ogura. "Ignored, humiliated: How Japan is accused of failing survivors of sexual abuse". Edition.cnn.com.
- ^ "The Free Press Association of Japan announces the seventh annual Freedom Of The Press Award". Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- ^ "New York Festivals World's Best TV and Films (2018)". Retrieved 27 December 2018.
