KYODO — A Cambodian woman who worked as a technical trainee at a strawberry farm north of Tokyo plans to file a damages suit against the farm manager, alleging multiple instances of rape that led to pregnancy and abortion, her lawyer said Monday.
The 23-year-old woman claims she was continuously sexually assaulted by the 58-year-old male manager just months after she began working at the farm in Tochigi Prefecture in July 2022, according to her lawyer. She said the assaults continued "almost every day" for about five months, through April 2023.
The manager denied ever forcing her to have sexual relations through his then-lawyer in November 2023. He did not respond to Kyodo News' request for comment regarding the woman's decision to file the lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court.
After discovering she was pregnant in January 2023, she was forced to undergo an abortion without being given a sufficient explanation in her mother tongue. The sexual abuse allegedly continued even after the abortion.
The woman, burdened with debt from expenses incurred to enter Japan -- a common situation for technical interns -- said she felt unable to reject him, as he threatened to "send you back home."
"I had no choice but to obey him because I was afraid of losing the job," she said through a translator in an interview with Kyodo News.
Japan's technical internship program, introduced in 1993 to transfer skills to developing countries, has long been criticised as a cover for importing low-cost labour amid a shrinking working-age population. Many trainees have fled due to unjust treatment, including unpaid wages and harassment.
The government decided in June this year to replace the controversial program with a new system with increased flexibility for workplace changes.
The Cambodian woman sought help from a labour union based in Gifu Prefecture that supports technical interns and was sheltered in April 2023, according to the lawyer and other sources.
She filed a complaint with the Tochigi prefectural police in 2023 over the rape allegations, and the case was referred to prosecutors in December of that year, according to an investigative source. However, the police included an opinion recommending against indictment, citing insufficient evidence.
The woman decided to take the issue to civil court after she was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in June this year while resuming her work as a trainee in a different prefecture.
She is seeking several tens of millions of yen in compensation for the alleged sexual assaults, abortion and PTSD.
Two other Cambodian women who were working at the same strawberry farm during the same period as her also plan to sue the manager in the Tokyo court, claiming they were fondled on their breasts and buttocks.
The 23-year-old woman claims she was continuously sexually assaulted by the 58-year-old male manager just months after she began working at the farm in Tochigi Prefecture in July 2022, according to her lawyer. She said the assaults continued "almost every day" for about five months, through April 2023.
The manager denied ever forcing her to have sexual relations through his then-lawyer in November 2023. He did not respond to Kyodo News' request for comment regarding the woman's decision to file the lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court.
After discovering she was pregnant in January 2023, she was forced to undergo an abortion without being given a sufficient explanation in her mother tongue. The sexual abuse allegedly continued even after the abortion.
The woman, burdened with debt from expenses incurred to enter Japan -- a common situation for technical interns -- said she felt unable to reject him, as he threatened to "send you back home."
"I had no choice but to obey him because I was afraid of losing the job," she said through a translator in an interview with Kyodo News.
Japan's technical internship program, introduced in 1993 to transfer skills to developing countries, has long been criticised as a cover for importing low-cost labour amid a shrinking working-age population. Many trainees have fled due to unjust treatment, including unpaid wages and harassment.
The government decided in June this year to replace the controversial program with a new system with increased flexibility for workplace changes.
The Cambodian woman sought help from a labour union based in Gifu Prefecture that supports technical interns and was sheltered in April 2023, according to the lawyer and other sources.
She filed a complaint with the Tochigi prefectural police in 2023 over the rape allegations, and the case was referred to prosecutors in December of that year, according to an investigative source. However, the police included an opinion recommending against indictment, citing insufficient evidence.
The woman decided to take the issue to civil court after she was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in June this year while resuming her work as a trainee in a different prefecture.
She is seeking several tens of millions of yen in compensation for the alleged sexual assaults, abortion and PTSD.
Two other Cambodian women who were working at the same strawberry farm during the same period as her also plan to sue the manager in the Tokyo court, claiming they were fondled on their breasts and buttocks.
