#55: Views on Sexual Harassment Among University Students in Japan — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

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#55: Views on Sexual Harassment Among University Students in Japan

Name: Sabrina Moskow
Major: Japanese
Hometown: Streamwood, IL
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Senior thesis

Abstract

This study delves into Japanese social ideas such as Wa, the importance of group mood, and demographics and how they affect views on sexual harassment among university students in Japan. While studying abroad in Japan, I witnessed a female university student being sexually harassed by a male university student at a group event. I was perplexed by the reactions of the people around me. The surrounding female students hit him and told him to cut it out, seemingly playfully or indirectly, while the male students all sat there watching. Observing a first-hand example of a group of university students’ reactions to sexual harassment made me wonder why they reacted the way they did and what they thought about the situation. I later refined these thoughts into questions that could be answered through research and a survey: What do college students in Japan perceive as sexual harassment? What actions would they take, or how would they feel, when faced with various situations where sexual harassment may be occurring? What is the reasoning behind their answers? While researching, I noticed a lack of surveys that allowed for explicative or qualitative answers as opposed to quantitative answers, such as how or why situations occur and how people react to them, so I created an anonymous survey with qualitative questions to send to current university students in Japan. The first page required demographic information such as gender identity, age, and how long they have lived in Japan since the survey was also open to international and exchange students. The second page had five different social situations to respond to. The final page had questions on what they think about “consent” and “sexual harassment” and if they had ever experienced or witnessed sexual harassment. I purposefully did not mention sexual harassment until the last page so there would be unbiased responses to the situational questions. From the thirty-five responses I received from the survey, I observed that group mood, demographics, and identity, both of those involved in situations with possible sexual harassment and the respondents themselves, create significant differences in how they react.

Poster file