Woman with intellectual disability accuses facility director of sexual assault

From AERA

November 7 2025

TOKYO – A woman with a mild intellectual disability who worked at a welfare workshop in Tokyo has accused the facility’s director of sexually assaulting her, including forcing her to strip naked and touching her genitals. The case highlights the difficulty of preventing abuse of people with disabilities, who may struggle to recognize what happened as assault or to be believed when they speak up.

“My private place”

When she met reporters at a law office in Tokyo, the woman, now in her thirties, spoke nervously, using that phrase.

She said that while she was working at the welfare workshop, she was repeatedly sexually abused by the facility’s male director, a man in his sixties (referred to as A). When asked where she had been touched, she replied simply: “My private place.”

The assaults continued for about six years. After graduating from a special needs high school in April 2011, she began attending the workshop. Not long after, A arrived to take up the post of director. The abuse began around 2013. The woman was often made to stay behind alone at the end of the day. When they were alone in the kitchen, A would hug her or touch her buttocks. This happened almost daily, and on some occasions he made her undress and touched her genitals.

“At first, I didn’t really understand,” she recalled. She knew she was being touched but didn’t grasp what it meant. Later, after confiding in a female staff member at the same workplace and learning more about sex, she said she “realized something was wrong.”

Municipality confirms “sexual abuse”

In October 2019, the woman and the female staff member reported the situation to a 78-year-old male executive of the organization that ran the facility. Shocked by her account, the executive immediately informed the local government, which provided subsidies to the organization. The municipality conducted interviews with those involved and officially determined that “sexual abuse had occurred.”

The woman initially sought a settlement with A, but he offered neither remorse nor apology. In February 2022, with her attorney, she filed a damages suit against A and the managing organization at the Tokyo District Court.

Explaining why she went to court, the woman said,

“I wanted him (A) to apologize properly.”

The first trial recognized that sexual abuse had taken place, but A appealed. In January this year, the case was settled at the Tokyo High Court. The settlement document included the line:

“I sincerely apologize for my inappropriate conduct.”