By MAKI OKUBO/ Senior Staff Writer
January 24, 2024 at 18:48 JST
Tokie Tanaka, right, speaks her thoughts in front of supporters before oral arguments at Tokyo District Court on Jan. 23. Kazue Akita, her lawyer, sits next to her. (Wataru Sekita)
A woman who is suing a Catholic congregation for mishandling her sexual assault allegations against a foreign priest came forward and disclosed her name publicly on Jan. 23.
Tokie Tanaka, 63, a nurse residing in Tokyo, said that she was inspired to reveal her identity by the courage of Rina Gonoi, 24, a former Ground Self-Defense Force member who publicly reported sexual abuse by her former colleagues using her real name.
“I haven’t done anything wrong. Why do I need to hide?” Tanaka asked reporters before the first oral argument at Tokyo District Court on Jan. 23.
In 2012, while giving confession at a church in Nagasaki, Tanaka told the foreign priest about sexual abuse she had suffered as a child.
She alleges that the priest then repeatedly forced her into sexual intercourse and into being filmed under the pretext of “spiritual guidance” over four and a half years.
She reported the priest’s assaults to the head of the Japan Province of the Society of the Divine Word, the Catholic congregation the priest belonged to.
The congregation decided to suspend the priest in 2019 by giving him a three-year “out-of-mission life” away from communal living. It also provided him with 1 million yen ($6,700) and allowed him to return to his home country.
Tanaka said the congregation’s investigation into the priest was inadequate and that he never apologized for his actions.
In November 2023, she filed the lawsuit against the congregation for failing to take appropriate action despite her complaints of sexual violence.
“Speaking out under my name proves my existence--that despite having been hurt by sexual abuse, I can stand up and live,” she said.
Keiji Arata, secretary-general of the congregation, told The Asahi Shimbun, “The priest himself denies the acts of abuse. We will proceed with the lawsuit in consultation with our legal representative.”
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