Help Me Move to Safety
Donation protected
I never thought I would need to make a gofundme and for that I feel lucky, but right now I feel like I have no other choice.
I would first of all like to explain what happened to me last night:
- I was walking home at around 9.30pm. I'm a full time student in Tokyo and my lessons finish at 5pm, so my only choice is to work into the night or I have no way of generating income.
-Some man started talking to me while I was checking my mail box outside my house, I was pretending I couldn’t speak English because I was so scared but he kept pushing to make conversation. He was maybe in his late 30s and he was on a bike smoking a cigarette.
-After a good few minutes of pushing me to make conversation he reached for my hand as though to say goodbye. At first I didn't offer my hand to shake, but he kept it there for a while and I felt desperate for him to go away. Instead of shaking my hand as expected, he started stroking it and mumbling "wow, sooo slim... soo slim..."
-Eventually it seemed like he was going to leave, he blew me a few kisses and then seemed to ride off on his bike. I pretended to continue down the road, as if I was going to a different house, but he'd already seen me open the mailbox.
-When I couldn’t see him anymore I went into my house and called my friend because I was really freaked out and he started banging on my window and saying “hellooo?”
I feel like he did this to show me that he knows where I live, I felt extremely threatened and afraid. My friend on the phone is Japanese and immediately called the police.
-The police arrived and managed to catch him. They began questioning me about what happened, which was super difficult because I've only studied Japanese for 5 months and I'm definitely still a beginner, I didn't know things like the word for "arrest" and "interpreter". I was taken to the police station because I requested to arrest him, where I was questioned way past midnight about the situation over and over again.
-The police seemed super sympathetic and worried for me, but Japan's laws on stalking and the threat of harm aren't very strict and so they basically had nothing to arrest him for and he was set free. Basically, until he physically harms me he cannot be arrested.
-It was explained to me that he lives in an apartment extremely close to my house, not even a minute away, and the police was continuously stressing that I need to take care. They were giving me tips on what to do next time and generally seemed to doubt he would actually leave me alone. The policemen seemed extremely worried for me.
-They couldn't do anything but let him off with a warning, which means he's still not even a minute away from me while I'm at home.
Japan's stalking crisis is infamous throughout the world - the police basically does nothing no matter how persistent the stalking is. There are a LOT of cases where women are killed in these situations.
Of course, it's possible that he'll leave me alone, but it's also possible that he'll continue to stalk and harass me and maybe actually hurt me and I'm sure you can understand that's just not a risk I'm willing to take, especially not when he lives not even minutes away from my house. I definitely feel the need to take my own steps to feel safer, since the police are known to not do anything.
Today I managed to meet a housing company and saw a few rooms I could rent. The issue is that I can't move straight away - my current house has a one month notice period, meaning I have to stay here until the 10th of April because I can't afford to pay rent for two places at one time. I also have to work extra hours so that I can save up for the contract fee - this means more late nights.
If I can save up the funds to pay for one month of rent and the contract fee, I can move as soon as next weekend. The cost of the rent itself is 66,000 yen or roughly $620/£450 and the contract fee is 30,000 yen or $280/£200. There is also a moving out fee of 30,000 yen ($280/£200) here for cleaning (though I have to clean the room myself anyway and the room is tiny so that's ridiculous to me but if that's the rule I have to follow it), but I feel like I can manage that myself, I'm already asking of way too much from other people.
Some points I would like to mention:
-It has been explicitly stated to me that if I carry pepper spray/ a small knife etc and I'm caught I will be deported.
-I don't know anyone in Japan who lives somewhere I can stay (eg not a dorm) that I'm close enough to that I can stay with them for a month. Also, my house is pretty far out of the way and again I work into the night (have no choice), so it's not feasible for someone to walk me home every night. My house right now is a private room in a share house full of people I don't know who don't speak to me, first of all I know they wouldn't come out of their rooms if something happened and second of all it's a rule in my share house that no one can stay with me or even enter the building.
-My house/neighbourhood (where the guy lives) is very very quiet with hardly anyone walking around, so a rape alarm wouldn't be useful, plus Japanese people aren't necessarily likely to get involved if they see something happen and are more likely to try to get out of the way as much as possible.
-There are cameras outside my house, which I mentioned to the police several times but they didn't seem interested in checking out at all. So basically, getting cameras isn't going to be helpful either.
It may seem dramatic to rush to move when something like this happens but I can't stress how often women are harmed in situations like this. I can't even sleep knowing how close he lives to me, all I want is to feel safe and to have some peace of mind.
As soon as I reach my goal I will take the next available weekend as my move-in date.
I'm really sorry to ask this of you guys, I just think I'll go crazy with paranoia if I stay here any longer.
I can't express how grateful I would be if you donated, even just a small amount, or shared this to spread the word.
Thank you so much for reading.
I would first of all like to explain what happened to me last night:
- I was walking home at around 9.30pm. I'm a full time student in Tokyo and my lessons finish at 5pm, so my only choice is to work into the night or I have no way of generating income.
-Some man started talking to me while I was checking my mail box outside my house, I was pretending I couldn’t speak English because I was so scared but he kept pushing to make conversation. He was maybe in his late 30s and he was on a bike smoking a cigarette.
-After a good few minutes of pushing me to make conversation he reached for my hand as though to say goodbye. At first I didn't offer my hand to shake, but he kept it there for a while and I felt desperate for him to go away. Instead of shaking my hand as expected, he started stroking it and mumbling "wow, sooo slim... soo slim..."
-Eventually it seemed like he was going to leave, he blew me a few kisses and then seemed to ride off on his bike. I pretended to continue down the road, as if I was going to a different house, but he'd already seen me open the mailbox.
-When I couldn’t see him anymore I went into my house and called my friend because I was really freaked out and he started banging on my window and saying “hellooo?”
I feel like he did this to show me that he knows where I live, I felt extremely threatened and afraid. My friend on the phone is Japanese and immediately called the police.
-The police arrived and managed to catch him. They began questioning me about what happened, which was super difficult because I've only studied Japanese for 5 months and I'm definitely still a beginner, I didn't know things like the word for "arrest" and "interpreter". I was taken to the police station because I requested to arrest him, where I was questioned way past midnight about the situation over and over again.
-The police seemed super sympathetic and worried for me, but Japan's laws on stalking and the threat of harm aren't very strict and so they basically had nothing to arrest him for and he was set free. Basically, until he physically harms me he cannot be arrested.
-It was explained to me that he lives in an apartment extremely close to my house, not even a minute away, and the police was continuously stressing that I need to take care. They were giving me tips on what to do next time and generally seemed to doubt he would actually leave me alone. The policemen seemed extremely worried for me.
-They couldn't do anything but let him off with a warning, which means he's still not even a minute away from me while I'm at home.
Japan's stalking crisis is infamous throughout the world - the police basically does nothing no matter how persistent the stalking is. There are a LOT of cases where women are killed in these situations.
Of course, it's possible that he'll leave me alone, but it's also possible that he'll continue to stalk and harass me and maybe actually hurt me and I'm sure you can understand that's just not a risk I'm willing to take, especially not when he lives not even minutes away from my house. I definitely feel the need to take my own steps to feel safer, since the police are known to not do anything.
Today I managed to meet a housing company and saw a few rooms I could rent. The issue is that I can't move straight away - my current house has a one month notice period, meaning I have to stay here until the 10th of April because I can't afford to pay rent for two places at one time. I also have to work extra hours so that I can save up for the contract fee - this means more late nights.
If I can save up the funds to pay for one month of rent and the contract fee, I can move as soon as next weekend. The cost of the rent itself is 66,000 yen or roughly $620/£450 and the contract fee is 30,000 yen or $280/£200. There is also a moving out fee of 30,000 yen ($280/£200) here for cleaning (though I have to clean the room myself anyway and the room is tiny so that's ridiculous to me but if that's the rule I have to follow it), but I feel like I can manage that myself, I'm already asking of way too much from other people.
Some points I would like to mention:
-It has been explicitly stated to me that if I carry pepper spray/ a small knife etc and I'm caught I will be deported.
-I don't know anyone in Japan who lives somewhere I can stay (eg not a dorm) that I'm close enough to that I can stay with them for a month. Also, my house is pretty far out of the way and again I work into the night (have no choice), so it's not feasible for someone to walk me home every night. My house right now is a private room in a share house full of people I don't know who don't speak to me, first of all I know they wouldn't come out of their rooms if something happened and second of all it's a rule in my share house that no one can stay with me or even enter the building.
-My house/neighbourhood (where the guy lives) is very very quiet with hardly anyone walking around, so a rape alarm wouldn't be useful, plus Japanese people aren't necessarily likely to get involved if they see something happen and are more likely to try to get out of the way as much as possible.
-There are cameras outside my house, which I mentioned to the police several times but they didn't seem interested in checking out at all. So basically, getting cameras isn't going to be helpful either.
It may seem dramatic to rush to move when something like this happens but I can't stress how often women are harmed in situations like this. I can't even sleep knowing how close he lives to me, all I want is to feel safe and to have some peace of mind.
As soon as I reach my goal I will take the next available weekend as my move-in date.
I'm really sorry to ask this of you guys, I just think I'll go crazy with paranoia if I stay here any longer.
I can't express how grateful I would be if you donated, even just a small amount, or shared this to spread the word.
Thank you so much for reading.
Organizer
Vina Murad
Organizer
