Mika Kobayashi is a brave woman.
Ten years ago she was the victim of a horrendous crime. For a long time she could barely function in society, yet she overcame the trauma to write and publish two books about what happened to her. Kobayashi's going public with her own story has since helped many others living with deep psychological stress.
"Seihanzai Higai to Tatakau to iu Koto" ("Fighting the Harm that Comes from Sexual Crime"), the title of the second book, published by Asahi Shimbun Shuppan in October, illuminates her message. Rape is a singularly brutal crime; and the ordeal faced by victims in its aftermath, particularly in traditional societies, only compounds that brutality.