Okinawa people stage rally against sexual assaults by U.S. servicemen

Over 2,500 people staged a rally in the city of Okinawa on Sunday to protest against sexual assaults on local girls and women by U.S. servicemen stationed in Okinawa Prefecture.

They adopted a resolution demanding the Japanese and U.S. governments apologize and compensate the victims, provide information promptly when such incidents occur, and revise the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which governs U.S. troops stationed in Japan.

"Sexual violence that tramples on the dignity of women and children should never occur," said Junko Iraha, chief of a local citizens' group and a member of the rally's organizing committee.

Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said, "I feel keenly that we need to be stricter and speak louder about the situation in which many residents of the prefecture are forced to coexist with U.S. military bases amid anxiety."

Sorane Sakihama, a 22-year-old college student who spoke as a representative of young people, said, "Do we have to be deprived of our youth because we were born in Okinawa and there are bases?"

The rally was broadcast live to other venues in Okinawa, including Ishigaki and Miyakojima, and also distributed online. Participants wore yellow clothes and ribbons in honor of the mimosa flower, which symbolizes International Women's Day.

It came to light in June this year that an Okinawa prosecutor's office had indicted Brennon Washington, who was stationed at the U.S. Air Force's Kadena base in the prefecture, on charges of sexually assaulting a girl.

Authorities did not immediately make the indictment public. A series of sexual assaults by U.S. military personnel in Okinawa have since been revealed, sparking anger among residents of the prefecture.

Rallies to protest against sexual assaults by U.S. servicemen are nothing new.

In 1995, three U.S. servicemen abducted and sexually assaulted a schoolgirl in northern Okinawa. The U.S. military refused to hand over the suspects to local authorities, citing the SOFA, sparking outrage across the island. The anger culminated in a rally at a park in Ginowan, attended by approximately 85,000 people, according to organizers.

Protests erupted again in 2016 after a 20-year-old office worker in Uruma was raped and murdered by a civilian contractor affiliated with the U.S. military. That rally drew 65,000 participants, with then-Gov. Takeshi Onaga lamenting the tragedy as “the height of sorrow” and calling for a fundamental revision of the SOFA.

The rallies have not been limited to criminal incidents. Protests have also targeted the relocation of the Futenma Air Station to Henoko in Nago in the prefecture and the deployment of U.S. Osprey transport aircraft.

Keiko Itokazu, 77, who co-chairs the civic group All Okinawa and spoke at the 1995 rally as a then-prefectural assembly member, emphasized the importance of these gatherings. “They serve as a platform to convey the people’s sentiments to the government, share our anger and reaffirm unity,” she said.

However, she said recent cases, including the incident in June, have left her seething.

“Nothing has changed. How many more times must we protest?” she said.