Incest PTSD
Sex abuse of granddaughter to cost man 59 mil. yen
"The Tokyo District Court ordered a 80-year-old man to pay 59.2 million yen in compensation to his granddaughter after sexually abusing her for eight years, abuse that caused her to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Presiding Judge Ryosuke Yasunami said Friday that the 24-year-old Tokyo woman had become unable to work after being repeatedly sexually abused by her grandfather.
The compensation includes estimated lost earnings, damages that are not normally taken into account.
According to the ruling, the man forced his granddaughter to have sex with him or molested her several times a week for eight years from the winter of 1992, when she was a sixth-grade primary school student.
The grandfather allegedly threatened her by saying he would kill her and himself if she told anyone about the abuse.
The woman became sick when she was in the second year of high school. She was diagnosed with PTSD in 2003 after moving out of the house in which she had lived with her grandfather. Even now, she panics in a crowd and is unable to work.
The man denied sexually abusing his granddaughter, but the judge rejected his claim and ordered him to pay compensation covering a 20-year period that includes the woman's estimated lost earnings.
Manabu Saito, a psychiatrist who specializes in counseling victims of sexual abuse, said the amount of compensation was low when the seriousness of the psychological damage done was taken into account.
"It has a great significance [for the judiciary] that allegations of sexual abuse were upheld based on past memories, and I expect courts will see more similar cases from now on," he said. "PTSD should be accepted more often [by courts] in the future."
The Yomiuri Shimbun, October 16, 2005
"The Tokyo District Court ordered a 80-year-old man to pay 59.2 million yen in compensation to his granddaughter after sexually abusing her for eight years, abuse that caused her to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Presiding Judge Ryosuke Yasunami said Friday that the 24-year-old Tokyo woman had become unable to work after being repeatedly sexually abused by her grandfather.
The compensation includes estimated lost earnings, damages that are not normally taken into account.
According to the ruling, the man forced his granddaughter to have sex with him or molested her several times a week for eight years from the winter of 1992, when she was a sixth-grade primary school student.
The grandfather allegedly threatened her by saying he would kill her and himself if she told anyone about the abuse.
The woman became sick when she was in the second year of high school. She was diagnosed with PTSD in 2003 after moving out of the house in which she had lived with her grandfather. Even now, she panics in a crowd and is unable to work.
The man denied sexually abusing his granddaughter, but the judge rejected his claim and ordered him to pay compensation covering a 20-year period that includes the woman's estimated lost earnings.
Manabu Saito, a psychiatrist who specializes in counseling victims of sexual abuse, said the amount of compensation was low when the seriousness of the psychological damage done was taken into account.
"It has a great significance [for the judiciary] that allegations of sexual abuse were upheld based on past memories, and I expect courts will see more similar cases from now on," he said. "PTSD should be accepted more often [by courts] in the future."
The Yomiuri Shimbun, October 16, 2005
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