TOKYO, May 23 (UPI) -- Ten percent of Japanese university students in practice-teaching programs at schools from kindergarten through high school say they have been sexually harassed.
The study by a team of researchers led by Takako Uchimizaki, an assistant professor at Kawamura Gakuen Woman's University in Chiba prefecture, found that in 61 percent of the cases the university students were harassed by teachers or principals, the Japan Times reported Monday.
The team sent questionnaires to students at 74 national and private universities across Japan between June and October last year, of whom 5,666 responded. Of the respondents, 3,528 were women and 2,093 were men. The gender of the remaining 45 was not indicated.
The study found that 542 students, about 10 percent of the respondents, said they had either experienced sexual harassment or had seen or heard someone being sexually harassed while taking part in the practice program.
"The victims hesitate to complain about the harassment because in many cases the harassers are their former teachers, and because they will not be able to obtain a teaching license if they leave the program," said Akiko Kemei, a representative of a nationwide group dealing with sexual harassment at schools.
