Letter of Appeal
CALL FOR SUPPORT
If you agree with our cause and would like to express your support, please fill in the form located at the bottom of the page.
［1. About us]
This network was formed by current undergraduate and postgraduate students, former students and graduates (including non-Japanese students), post-doctoral researchers, and young faculty members, who came together due to a common awareness of the problem.
We are made up of individuals and groups who have seen and heard, directly and indirectly, the common problem of campus harassment from different universities, specialisations and positions.
We are not authorised to deal with the campus harassment. However, the more up close and personal we get to the issue, more we have become aware of a structural problem that goes beyond dealing with individual perpetrators. We also feel that we involved in the problem as bystanders due to the lack of an appropriate response as a university organisation.
The fact that harassment occurs - and often exacerbated by secondary harrassment due to institutional inadequacies - is a problem common to all universities. It is difficult to touch on such common problems among universities, even if each individual/group separately appeals for improvement. In addition, local action alone is insufficient, as there have been cases where the problem repeats itself when the perpetrator moves to another university, and their former university no longer responded to past incidents nor shared information with the new university. For such cases, no uniform remedial measures have been presented by the government and MEXT as well.
Our network, as volunteers, is therefore united in calling on the national government, MEXT and universities to effectively eradicate campus harassment.
［2. The current state of harassment]
Currently, there is no law in Japan that sets standards for dealing with harassment at universities. Each university decides on their own method of dealing with harassment problems, which then contributes to the lack of information on harassment, the damage caused, and how these problems should be resolved. This also means that harassment is rarely dealt with legitimately while maintaining the safety of the victims.
Even if a university provides consultation to victims, it is clear that such systems maintained by each university is not sufficient to deal with the problem, as much secondary harm have been caused, such as the victims being deeply hurt by the words and actions they receive from the counsellor.
The structure of harassment and social vulnerability changes with the times, and no matter what position or attributes, one must not forget that he or she can either be a victim or a perpetrator. The causes of harassment and the decision to remain a bystander are also related to the unconscious bias of individuals, whose awareness is influenced by the environment and their surrounding circumstances. Therefore, it is important to change the environment itself so that each individual becomes aware of their own biases, while universities protect the victim, and deal with the situation in a justified manner.
[3. The campus we want to realise]
We seek to realise a campus where individuals are not threatened and can freely interact with each other.
By a “campus”, we not only mean a physical space with academic buildings, but also a network of university members. University members are involved in a variety of activities, such as study, research, creative work, clubs, or administrative work. Whatever type of campus life they choose to lead, the premise for all the activities pursued and engaged in by university members is the need for an environment in which they have the opportunity to engage freely with each other on campus.
The enjoyment of freedom on campus is made possible by the trust and expectation that they will be respected as equal persons. Being respected as equals, at the very least, includes not being subjected to discriminatory treatment and not having one's fundamental human rights infringed. In contrast, harassment and secondary harm can undermine the campus vibrancy of the victim. This is especially when the university and other members of the campus community do not respond adequately to the perpetration and victimisation of harassment, as the victim may feel that he or she is denied the respect he or she deserves in the campus community. The victim will then perceive the entire campus as hostile to them. As such, we hope to ensure that freedom on campus is not threatened through anti-harassment and preventive measures.
[4. Request]
The ideal campus as described above cannot be achieved by the actions of a few people. We therefore request the following remedial actions from the following institutions so that this problem can be resolved as quickly and effectively as possible.
◆ To the Japanese government.....
The government should urgently make a law that is informed by the actual situation of Japanese universities, while referring to laws in other countries (in particular, Title IV of the U.S. Code).
◆To MEXT......
Propose effective measures to prevent and eliminate harassment.
Actively encourage the decision-making bodies of universities to adopt these measures, and implement them in a consistent manner.
MEXT should incorporate the 'harassment response from the student's perspective', and from the university compliance perspective, into the university evaluation criteria.
◆To Universities.......
The following are some of the measures that should be implemented before the MEXT's official instructions, to maintain campus vibrancy and prevent further damage to the academic environment.
Universities should re-examine, by means of questionnaires and other tools, whether the consultation and allegation flow, such as that comprising the Harassment Consultation Office and the Harassment Investigation Committee, is functioning adequately - by protecting victims and maintaining substantial impartiality - and improve it if there are shortcomings.
Conduct effective training on managing cases of harassment for all persons working at universities, instead of simply watching a training video.
We beseech the government, MEXT and universities to take a serious look at the current situation where victims of harassment continuously merge. As such, our requests above should be achieved quickly, and in a form that is compatible with each institution, to prevent further harm.
(English version pulished: Dec 1st, 2022)
Please also see the Japanese version.
Hidehiko Adachi (Professor, Kanazawa University)
Nanako Inaba (Professor, Sophia University)
Makoto Usami (Professor, Kyoto University)
Shigenori Uno (Professor, The University of Tokyo)
Eriko Oshima (Lecturer, Kinjo Gakuin University)
Takashi Kawamoto (Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo, Tohoku University)
Takashi Kibe (Professor, International Christian University)
Hiroko Goto (Professor, Chiba University)
S. K. (Professor, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University)
Kana Sakaguchi (Faculty member, Hokkai University of Commerce)
Junichi Saito (Professor, Waseda University)
Yasushi Sugihara (Professor, Kyoto University)
Sachi Takaya (The University of Tokyo)
Hirohide Takikawa
Naoya Nagaishi (Associate Professor, The University of Tokyo)
Mimiko Nakazawa (Yamagata University)
Hidetoshi Yasui (Professor, Fukuoka University)
Mari Miura (Professor, Sophia University)
- As of Mar. 25th, 2023 -
Yuki Asano
Masaaki Uomi
Masako Ohta
Kenichiro Okada (Associate Professor, Kochi University)
Ryo Ogawa (Assistant Professor, Tokyo Metropolitan University)
Sayaka Oki (Professor, The University of Tokyo)
Kenji Kajiya (Professor, The University of Tokyo)
Emi Kato (Faculty member, Teikyo University)
Takayuki Kira (Associate Professor, Aichi University)
Takuto Kobayashi (Research Associate, Waseda University)
Ryutaro Shibata (Doctoral student, Hitotsubashi University)
Akiko Shimizu (The University of Tokyo)
Masashi Takeshita (Doctoral student, Hokkaido University)
Shinichi Tabata (Faculty member, Hokkaido University of Education)
Haruka Tsutsui (Project Researcher, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo)
Hikari Naito
Noburu Notomi (Professor, The University of Tokyo)
Shu Haruyama (Lecturer, Asia University)
Taro Furukata (Associate Professor, Faculty of Art, Hiroshima City University)
Genya Fukunaga
H.M. (Doctoral student)
Ryusuke Matsuo (Lecturer, University of Miyazaki)
Yukie Matsushima (Professor, Nihon University)
Kazuki Matsuda
Fumihiro Misaki (Lecturer, Okayama University of Commerce and Business)
MWM (Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University)
Yuichiro Mori (Associate Professor, Hokkaido University)
Masato Yoshihara (Doctoral student, Kyoto University)
Daisuke Tano (Professor, Konan University)
Taro Kinugasa (Lecturer, Kobe University)
K.T.
Toshiharu Ito (Professor Emeritus, Tokyo University of the Arts)
Sho Kosuda (Graduate student, Waseda University)
Yelim Ahn
Dai Ohba (PhD student)
Daehan An (Doctoral Student in GSGES, Kyoto University)
Kento Miyata (Lecturer, Otaru University of Commerce)
Arinori Kawamura (Associate Professor, Nagasaki University)
Gregory Trencher (Associate Professor, Kyoto University)
Eisuke Nakazawa (The University of Tokyo)
Keisuke Kondo (Associate Professor, Kyoto University)
N.N.
Regina Bichler (Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies)
Robert Nordström (Doctoral Student, Waseda University)
Masaya Miyamoto ( JSPS research fellow PD, The University of Tokyo)
Aiko Hibino (Hirosaki University)
Yuko Mio (Keio University)
Chikako Yamashiro
Keiko Takeda
Kazuko Sato (administrative staff, Sophia University)
Makiko Deguchi (Professor, Sophia University)
Yuko Hashimoto
Kenji Uehara
Rena Fukazawa (Don't Overlook Harassment at University)
Vanessa Schiwietz
Meiko Shiozawa
Hiroki Yamagishi (staff of center for promotion of gender equality/ Doctoral Student)
Yusuke Katsura (graduate student, Osaka University)
Yuko Murakami (Professor, Rikkyo University)
Hiroaki Isobe (Associate Professor, Kyoto City University of Arts)
Koji Tokunaga (Master's course student, University of Tokyo)
Yumiko Yokota (Assistant Professor, Ritsumeikan University)
T.T. (Master's course student, Open University)
Maki Shimizu (Professor, Meiji University)
Manabu Nasukawa (Professor, Meiji Gakuin University)
Yasuko Hassall Kobayashi (College of Global Liberal Arts, Ritsumeikan University)
Tatsuya Mori (Associate Professor, Kobe Gakuin University)
Yotestu Tonaki (Associate Professor, Rikkyo University)
Koki Hiraishi (Kanazawa University)
S. F. (Undergraguate, Kwansei Gakuin University)
Sae Kitamura (Associate Professor, Musashi University)
Michiya Kitada (High Shcool Lecturer)
Keisuke Kirita (representative, YOHAKU/ Joint Resercher, Sophia University)
Kyoko Takeuchi
Makoto Hosoya (Kanto Gakuin University)
Keiko Katsuta
K. N.
Yoshinari Nishio (Associate Professor, Tokyo University of the Arts)
Masato Tanaka
Mai Sugita (faculty member, Tokyo Metropolitan University)
Yuko Mouri (Tokyo University of the Arts)
Yutaka Hasegawa (Associate Professor, Kyoto Prefectural University)
Megumi Miyamoto (Harassment Counselor, a private university)
N. Y.
Noriko Matsunaga (Waesda University)
Shunsuke Nukuzuma (Lecturer, Hokkaido Musashi Women's Junior College)
Mana Shimaoka (Professor, Osaka University)
Miho Mitsunari (Professor Emeritus, Nara Women's University)
Yasue Nukatsuka
Wataru Sano
Seiki Okazaki (Professor)
Shigeru Fuwa (Professor, Ehime University)
K. M. (Curator)
Nobuyuki Hiraoka (Associate Professor, Nagano University)
Elio Bova (Researcher, Ritsumeikan University)
Mari Kanazawa
and 4 anonymous supporters
If you would like to express your support, please fill in the following form (Only initials are also welcome!).
We appreciate those who have provided advice and co-operation in the preparation of this letter of appeal, including harassment counselling offices of several universities.
US (Volunteers from Tokyo University of the Arts)
A. S.（Kyoto University）
EquAll （Students group of Tohoku University）
Masako Ichihara（Researcher）
Yoshie Ogumi（Lecturer, Doshisha University）
Study Goup on Academia (Group of female scholars）
Taichi Kishimi（Faculty member, Fukushima University）
Kaori Kobayashi（Graduate School of Aoyama Gakuin University）
Yusuke Tsuji（Graduate School of Waseda University）
Kumie Hattori（Kyoto University）
H.I. （Faculty member, Yamagata University）
Gen Fukushima （Graduate School of Waseda University）
Masato Fukuhara（Lecturer, Takasaki University）
V.W.（Group of Tokyo University of the Arts）
Shiori Yamashita （Graduate School of Hiroshima City Univerity）
Shoko Yamada（Tohoku University）
...and undergraduates, graduate students, alumina, foreign students, faculty members (25 members)