TOKYO: An ex-Japanese prosecutor who publicly accused her boss of rape said on Tuesday that her former office needs reform, adding that victims' allegations are not properly investigated.
Very few women in Japan speak out about sexual assault, but the prosecutor, who uses the pseudonym Hikari, in 2024 accused Osaka's then top prosecutor of raping her six years earlier.
Kentaro Kitagawa, who retired after serving as head of the Osaka District Public Prosecutor's Office, was arrested and admitted the assault but later withdrew his statement, saying the sex was consensual.
The woman's case has made little progress ever since.
"I've simply been made to suffer while the case drags on, so I keep telling the prosecution to get on with their work," Hikari told reporters on Tuesday.
She said she recently learned that prosecutors had disclosed to Kitagawa records of her office entries and exits, as well as work email exchanges.
"As a victim, I didn't want him to know anything about me. It made me feel uneasy because I didn't know what he might do. That's why I repeatedly asked prosecutors not to disclose anything," she said.
Hikari said she feared victims could suffer further harm if authorities fail to conduct proper investigations.
"I can no longer ask victims to speak out, because this is what happens to them if they do."
"The only way to resolve this issue is to reform the organisation," she added.
As part of her push for reform, Hikari has requested an independent probe into harassment within prosecutor's offices across the country.
But officials have rejected that request and instead announced the launch of their own internal probe in June.
Japan's Public Prosecutors Office has recently been rocked by a series of scandals involving misconduct by elite prosecutors, including a case in which a prosecutor had a sexual relationship with a woman he had questioned as a suspect.
Hikari, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), officially resigned on Monday.
Her condition worsened two years ago after she learned that an assistant prosecutor -- whom Hikari said is Kitagawa's lover -- spread malicious rumours about her.
They included identifying Hikari as the victim -- her name had not been made public -- and claims that she had been attracted to Kitagawa, consented to sex and was not drunk.
The assistant prosecutor also deleted phone call and message records despite being ordered not to do so, Hikari said.
Hikari filed a criminal complaint against the woman in 2025, but the Osaka prosecutor's office dismissed it, only imposing a reprimand.
Her request for measures to ensure a safe working environment was also rejected.
"Why am I, the victim, the one being forced out of my workplace?" Hikari asked.
"My sense of despair is beyond words," she added.
"But I will keep fighting to reform the organisation into one that protects both the law and the people so that no one else will have to go through this." - AFP
