text: Trump spokesman Jason Miller responded to the allegation calling it "fiction". Miller stated the charges were politically motivated "for this to only become public decades later in the final month of a campaign for president should say it all." Trump publicly threatened to sue the "Times" over the newspaper's publication of the allegation, and demanded a retraction. The "Times" rejected Trump's retraction demand, and Trump never followed through on his threat to take legal action against the company. An alleged witness to the case who claimed he saw "nothing untoward" upon the flight was former British Conservative county councillor from Gloucestershire, Anthony Gilberthorpe. Gilberthorpe has previously made false allegations against politicians.


title: Donald Trump sexual misconduct allegations

text: On October 14, 2016, "The Washington Post" reported an allegation by Kristin Anderson. Anderson said that Trump groped her beneath her skirt in a Manhattan nightclub in the early 1990s. An aspiring model at the time of the alleged incident, Anderson told the story to her friends, and decided to come forward after reading accounts of other women who had done so. Anderson believed the alleged assault occurred at the China Club, a Manhattan nightclub that "Newsday" referred to as "Donald's Monday-night nest" due to his alleged habit of picking up women there.


text: On October 13, 2016, "The Huffington Post" reported an allegation by Lisa Boyne. Boyne said Sonja Morgan (then Sonja Tremont) invited her to a dinner with Trump, modeling agent John Casablancas, and five or six models. Boyne alleged that Trump made the models walk across the table, looked under their skirts, and described if they were wearing underwear. Morgan told "The Huffington Post" that the dinner took place with those participants, did not recall lewd behaviour by Trump, and said: "But I have been known to dance on tables." Boyne said she called her roommate Karen Beatrice that night to inform her about the incident. "The Huffington Post" contacted Beatrice, who denied any such call.


text: On October 15, 2016, "The Guardian" reported an allegation by Cathy Heller that she was grabbed and kissed by Donald Trump two decades earlier. Heller said that, in 1997, she met Trump when she attended a Mother's Day brunch with her children, her husband, and her husband's parents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Her parents-in-law were members of Mar-a-Lago. Heller was introduced to Trump, who became angry when she avoided a kiss. He then "grabbed" her and, when he tried to kiss her, she turned her head. Trump kissed her on the side of the mouth "for a little too long" and then he left her.


text: Heller's husband and children, who were present during the event, have corroborated her account. In the summer of 2015, the members of Heller's mahjong group heard Heller's account of the 1997 incident; this was not long after Trump announced his candidacy. She decided to go public after seeing the second presidential debate on October 9, 2016. Heller is a registered Democrat, and public supporter of Hillary Clinton.


text: Trump campaign spokesperson Jason Miller said Heller's account is "false" and "politically motivated".


text: In May 2016, "The New York Times" reported allegations by Temple Taggart McDowell. McDowell, who was Miss Utah USA in 1997, accused Trump of unwanted kisses and embraces that left McDowell and one of her chaperones so uncomfortable, according to McDowell, that she claimed she was instructed not to be left in a room alone with him again. According to McDowell, a chaperone had accompanied her to Trump's office. At the time, McDowell was 21 and was known as Temple Taggart. This incident occurred in Trump's first year of ownership of the Miss USA contest.


text: McDowell told her story initially to "The New York Times" in May 2016 which was published in the "Crossing the Line: How Donald Trump Behaved With Women in Private" article. She had not intended to speak publicly about the incidents again, but she received numerous calls recently due to the "Crossing the Line" article and felt, as a mother, that it is important to share a message about unwanted advances: "You have the right to say no. You have the right to get out of there. You have the right to leave, and you have the right to make them feel uncomfortable if they're making you feel uncomfortable," she said. Trump said he does not know her and denied McDowell's claims. He also told "The New York Times" he is "reluctant to kiss strangers on the lips".


text: Taggart McDowell said she is a Republican, and not coming out with the allegation in order to support Hillary Clinton.


text: Former model Amy Dorris said in September 2020 that she and her boyfriend, Jason Binn, attended the 1997 U.S. Open with Donald Trump, who Binn had described as his best friend. She alleges that Trump groped and kissed her without her consent at the event. "The Guardian" confirmed that she told her mother and a friend in New York immediately after the incident and that she had told her therapist and several other friends about it over the years; Binn did not reply to "The Guardian"'s request for comment. Trump denied the allegation via his lawyers. Former top model Caron Bernstein stated that her husband was the New York friend and that Dorris had told her about the assault in 2008.


text: At an October 2016 press conference with attorney Gloria Allred, yoga instructor and life coach Karena Virginia said that in 1998 Trump grabbed her arm and touched her breast. Virginia, who was 27 years old at the time, was waiting for a ride after the US Open in Queens, New York. She said Trump, whom she had not met previously, approached her with a small group of other men, while commenting on her legs, then he grabbed her right arm. Virginia continued, "Then his hand touched the right side of my breast. I was in shock. I flinched. 'Don't you know who I am? Don't you know who I am?'—that's what he said to me. I felt intimidated and I felt powerless."


text: Trump campaign spokesperson Jessica Ditto responded to the allegation with a statement reading in part, "Discredited political operative Gloria Allred, in another coordinated, publicity seeking attack with the Clinton campaign, will stop at nothing to smear Mr. Trump."


text: In Barry Levine and Monique El-Faizy's book "All the President's Women: Donald Trump and the Making of a Predator", Karen Johnson alleged that she attended a New Year's Eve party at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, where Trump grabbed her by her genitals, pulled her behind a tapestry, and forcibly kissed her. Johnson also alleged that days after the incident, Trump repeatedly called her (without her giving him the phone number), offering to fly her to meet him, which she rejected. The book states that Johnson told a friend about the incident years before Trump ran for president.


text: In an October 2016 article by "The Palm Beach Post", Mindy McGillivray stated that in January 2003, when she was 23 years old, she was groped by Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate. She said, "All of a sudden I felt a grab, a little nudge. I think it's [my friend Ken Davidoff's] camera bag, that was my first instinct. I turn around and there's Donald. He sort of looked away quickly." Ken Davidoff, a photographer, corroborated McGillivray's account, saying he remembered her pulling him aside moments after the alleged incident to say "Donald just grabbed my ass!"


text: McGillivray said she "chose to stay quiet" and never reported the incident to authorities. She had shared details of the incident only with close family and friends until she heard Trump deny such behavior during the second presidential debate on October 9, 2016. Hope Hicks, Trump's press secretary, said McGillivray's allegations lacked "any merit or veracity" and were untruthful.


text: Ken Davidoff's brother, Darryl Davidoff, said he was also present at the time at Mar-a-Lago and that in his opinion McGillivray is lying. According to Darryl: "I do not believe it really happened. Nobody saw it happen and she just wanted to be in the limelight."


text: In 2005, Rachel Crooks was a 22-year-old receptionist at Bayrock Group, a real estate investment and development company in Trump Tower in Manhattan. She says she encountered Trump in an elevator in the building one morning and turned to introduce herself. They shook hands, but Trump would not let go. Instead, he began kissing her cheeks, then directly on the mouth. "It was so inappropriate," Crooks recalled in an interview. "I was so upset that he thought I was so insignificant that he could do that." Her story was printed by "The New York Times" in October 2016, along with that of Jessica Leeds. Trump has disputed Crooks' claims, writing on Twitter, "Who would do this in a public space with live security cameras running?" Crooks is a public supporter and donor to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.


text: Canadian author and journalist Natasha Stoynoff, who wrote for "People" magazine and, previously, the "Toronto Star" and "Toronto Sun", went to Trump's Florida estate in December 2005 to interview him and his wife, Melania. While there, Trump gave Stoynoff a tour of the Mar-a-Lago estate. She says that during this tour, he pushed her against a wall and forced his tongue into her mouth.


text: Stoynoff described the alleged episode, "We walked into that room alone, and Trump shut the door behind us. I turned around, and within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat... I was stunned. And I was grateful when Trump's longtime butler burst into the room a minute later, as I tried to unpin myself." Stoynoff composed herself and conducted the interview, after which she said Trump repeatedly told her, "We're going to have an affair, I'm telling you." Melania was also interviewed for that article.


text: Trump sent out a tweet on October 13, 2016, in which he said it had not happened and wondered why she had not mentioned the event in her "People" article of 2005. Stoynoff responded that she had become angry when Trump denied assaulting women during the presidential debate and was triggered by the release of the "Access Hollywood" recording in early October. Until that point, she said, she had conflicting emotions common among victims of assault, combined with embarrassment and confusion. J.D. Heyman, "People"s deputy editor, said: "It was disorienting for her. She felt a great deal of worry and distress about it. Then she felt angry."


text: That same day, Melania's lawyer demanded an apology from "People" magazine, stating that Melania did not say some or all of what was quoted in the "People" article by Stoynoff published on October 12, 2016; Melania specifically denied Stoynoff's claim that she'd run into her on Fifth Avenue following the article's publication. In an interview with Anderson Cooper that aired October 17 on CNN, Melania again denied having crossed paths with Stoynoff on Fifth Avenue, as stated in Stoynoff's article. The following day, "People" published the account of Liza Herz. Herz said she witnessed the sidewalk encounter between Stoynoff and Melania Trump; Herz' account corroborated that of Stoynoff.


text: On October 18, "People" produced six corroborating witnesses who said Stoynoff had recounted the incident to them around the time it occurred. The six witnesses were: "two editors from "People", Mary Green and Liz McNeil; a professor of journalism, Paul McLaughlin; a co-worker; and two personal friends of Ms. Stoynoff".


text: Trump's former butler at Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Anthony Senecal, 85, was asked about the 2005 incident in which Stoynoff alleged that the butler had "burst in" on Trump while she was pinned down by him; Senecal denied it ever happened, stating that as a butler "I don't burst in. I knock, then I go in, usually after someone says 'come in'," further alleging "And when I went in, there was nothing strange about where she was standing." According to Senecal, the alleged incident took place in an old massage room with windows all around which made it unsuitable to grope anyone since there was no privacy.


text: In early December 2017, the reporter Juliet Huddy said Trump kissed her on the lips while they were on an elevator in Trump Tower with Trump's security guard in 2005 or 2006. Regarding this incident, Huddy said "I was surprised that he went for the lips. But I didn't feel threatened... Whatever, everything was fine. It was a weird moment. He never tried anything after that, and I was never alone with him."


text: On October 22, 2016, Jessica Drake and attorney Gloria Allred held a news conference in which Drake accused Trump of having sexually assaulted her by grabbing tightly in a hug and kissed her and two acquaintances nearly ten years prior. Drake, an adult film actress and sex education advocate, said she met Trump at her company's booth during a charity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe in 2006. Drake claims she was invited to meet with Trump, who was married at the time, at his hotel suite; she was "uncomfortable going alone" and brought two friends. Describing the meeting with Trump, Drake recounted that "He grabbed each of us tightly, in a hug and kissed each one of us without asking permission." Drake said she and her friends left the suite after 30–45 minutes. Shortly thereafter, Drake claims she received phone calls from Trump or his associate, requesting that she join him in his suite for $10,000, and offering to fly her on his jet back to Los Angeles. She said she declined his offers.


text: During the news conference, Drake said, "I am not looking for monetary compensation. I do not need additional fame... I understand that I may be called a liar or an opportunist but I will risk that in order to stand in solidarity with women who share similar accounts." During the news conference, Gloria Allred held up a picture showing Trump and Drake standing together at the time.


text: In response to Drake's allegations, the Trump campaign stated that her story is "false and ridiculous", that "[t]he picture is one of thousands taken out of respect for people asking to have their picture taken with Mr. Trump" but Trump did not know Drake and "would have no interest in ever knowing her", and that the story was "just another attempt by the Clinton campaign to defame a candidate". Donald Trump appeared to dismiss the significance of the accusation because of Drake's line of work, saying, "Oh, I'm sure she's never been grabbed before."


text: On October 27, 2016, a local Finnish tabloid, "Ilta-Sanomat", reported an allegation by Ninni Laaksonen, Miss Finland 2006. Laaksonen appeared with Trump on the "Late Show with David Letterman" on July 26, 2006. Laaksonen claims that before they went on the air, Trump grabbed her buttocks. As Laaksonen describes the interaction: "He really grabbed my butt. I don't think anybody saw it but I flinched and thought: "What is happening?" Someone later told Laaksonen that Trump liked her because she looked like his wife, Melania, when she was younger.


text: Laaksonen revealed her account to a local Finnish tabloid, "Ilta-Sanomat", which had contacted her regarding the level of professionalism involved in Donald Trump's handling of his employees within the Miss Universe pageant. The story was published on October 27, 2016.


text: In October 2016, "Rolling Stone" and NPR reported Trump fondled Cassandra Searles, Miss Washington USA of 2013, without her consent during the Miss USA pageant of that year. In June 2016, Searles wrote that Trump invited her to his hotel room. Yahoo!News published an article in June 2016 stating that Searles had made Facebook postings that accused Trump of making unwanted advances. She said he was "continually" groping her buttocks and had asked her to go "to his hotel room". Searles also asserted that Trump had "treated us like cattle". Trump and his campaign have not specifically responded to Searles' allegations.


text: Trump owned the Miss Universe franchise, which includes Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, from 1996 to 2015. In a Howard Stern interview in 2005, he said he made a practice of walking into the contestants' dressing rooms unannounced while the women were undressed:


text: In that interview, Trump declined to say whether he had slept with any contestants, saying, "It could be a conflict of interest". Stern then imitated a foreign contestant ("Mr. Trump, in my country, we say hello with vagina"), and Trump jokingly responded, "Well, you could also say, as the owner of the pageant, it's your obligation to do that."


text: Contestants of the shows have specifically alleged that Trump entered the dressing rooms while they were in various stages of undress in 1997, 2000, 2001, and 2006.


text: Mariah Billado, Miss Vermont Teen USA, is one of five women to mention such a dressing room visit incident in 1997. Billado said of the visit: "I remember putting on my dress really quick, because I was like, 'Oh my god, there's a man in here.' Trump, she recalled, said something like, 'Don't worry, ladies, I've seen it all before.'" Billado recalled talking to Ivanka, Trump's daughter, who responded "Yeah, he does that." Victoria Hughes, Miss New Mexico Teen USA, also said Trump did conduct a dressing room visit, and that the youngest contestant there was 15. The dressing room had 51 contestants, each with their own stations. Eleven girls said they did not see Trump enter the dressing room, though some said it was possible that he had entered while they were somewhere else, or that they didn't notice. Of the 15 former contestants who were interviewed by "BuzzFeed News", none alleged Trump said anything sexually explicit or made physical contact in the dressing room, and reportedly "Most of the former contestants were doubtful or dismissed the possibility that Trump violated their changing room privacy."


text: Allison Bowman, Miss Wisconsin Teen USA, expressed skepticism: "these were teenage girls. If anything inappropriate had gone on, the gossip would have flown." Trump's campaign stated the allegations of his entering the dressing room "have no merit and have already been disproven by many other individuals who were present".


text: In 2000, Bridget Sullivan was Miss New Hampshire USA. As she prepared for a television broadcast, Trump allegedly walked into the dressing room. She told "BuzzFeed" he was coming to wish the contestants good luck, but they "were all naked". Some contestants that night do not remember his entering while the ladies prepared and other contestants mentioned that they had no negative experiences with Trump. A spokesman for Trump said Sullivan's claims were "totally false".


text: Tasha Dixon, Miss Arizona USA 2001, told a CBS affiliate in Los Angeles that in 2001, "[Trump] just came strolling right in. There was no second to put a robe on or any sort of clothing or anything. Some girls were topless, other girls were naked." She said that having been walked in on when the women had little or no clothes put them in a "very physically vulnerable position, and then to have the pressure of the people that work for him telling us to go fawn all over him, go walk up to him, talk to him..." Another contestant, Miss California USA 2009 Carrie Prejean Boller, told the same CBS affiliate it was wrong to paint Trump that way. Trump's response, provided through spokeswoman Jessica Ditto, is that: "These accusations have no merit and have already been disproven by many other individuals who were present," Ditto adds that she believes there is a political motivation behind the accusation.


text: An unnamed Miss USA contestant said that in 2001 Trump walked into her dressing room unannounced while she and another contestant were undressed. She told "The Guardian" Trump "just barged right in, didn't say anything, stood there and stared at us... He didn't walk in and say, 'Oh, I'm so sorry, I was looking for someone.' He walked in, he stood and he stared. He was doing it because he knew that he could." Another contestant told "The Guardian" the contestant had spoken to others of this event at the time.


text: On October 14, 2016, Samantha Carol Holvey, Miss North Carolina USA 2006, related that "Trump's conduct was 'creepy' around the women participating but he never made an advance toward her." She also said that before pageant events, Trump had "moved into areas where she and other contestants were getting ready", and that she had "never been around men that were like that". More than a year after Trump was elected president, and after many high-profile men, such as Harvey Weinstein, had lost their jobs because of sexual harassment allegations, Holvey wrote: "You can't work in Hollywood if you're a sexual predator, but you can become the commander-in-chief?" She then related how Trump made her feel very uncomfortable at the 2006 Miss USA pageant: "He eyed me like a piece of meat. I was shocked and disgusted. I have never felt so objectified. I left the meet-and-greet hoping that this would be my one and only encounter with him." She also described how he had come backstage unannounced, with Melania Trump: "I was shocked—again—by this violation of our personal space. What was he doing, coming backstage when we were still getting dressed?"<ref name="Holvey_12/19/2017"></ref>


text: In 1992, Trump appeared on NBC News' show "A Closer Look", hosted by Faith Daniels. During the show, Daniels said Trump (divorced at the time) agreed to make an appearance because: "You kissed me on the lips in front of the paparazzi, and I said, 'That'll cost you. I'm booking you on the show.'" Trump replied that the kiss was "so open and nice", and that he thought Daniels' husband "had his back turned at the time". Trump had invited NBC News to film a party he threw for himself and Jeffrey Epstein at Mar-a-Lago, where they joined various NFL cheerleaders; the kiss incident occurred there. NBC News revealed footage of the party in July 2019, showing Trump, Epstein and the cheerleaders. At one point during the video, Trump grabbed a woman around her waist, pulled her against his body, and patted her buttocks. At another point, Trump appears to tell Epstein: "Look at her, back there... She's hot."


text: In a 1998 interview with Chris Matthews, two years before his 2000 presidential campaign, Trump said that his history with women could prove to be an issue in the event of a future presidential campaign, saying ""Can you imagine how controversial I'd be?...You think about (Bill Clinton) with the women. How about me with the women? Can you imagine?"


text: A 2002 article in "New York" magazine quoted Trump talking about Jeffrey Epstein: "I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it, Jeffrey enjoys his social life." In 2008, Epstein plead guilty to charges involving child prostitution. In 2019, he was charged with child sex trafficking; he died in his cell before facing trial.


text: Shaun R. Harper, executive director of the Penn Graduate Center for Education, has said that "many men talk like Donald Trump"; objectifying women and saying offensive things about them. He puts Trump in a class of men whose behavior sometimes includes sexual assault and degrading women. "The Economist" drew similar parallels, pointing to research that objectifying women can make sexual assault more likely. NPR reported that Trump has exhibited questionable behavior in his treatment of women for some time, using offensive language to describe women including Megyn Kelly, Rosie O'Donnell, and former Miss Universe Alicia Machado. Arwa Mahdawi of "The Guardian" called his past remarks a "masterclass in rape culture", pointing to statements such as "26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military—only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men and women together?" and "women, you have to treat 'em like shit." On October 13, 2016, a transcript from a 1994 "Primetime Live" interview was unearthed where Trump states "I tell friends who treat their wives magnificently, get treated like crap in return, 'Be rougher and you'll see a different relationship.'"


text: Trump has presented himself as a political martyr in the face of these accusations. He declared "this is a conspiracy against you, the American people", saying "the Washington establishment and the financial and media corporations that fund it exist for only one reason: to protect and enrich itself" and that "the Clinton machine is at the center of this power structure." In his next speech, he said "The New York Times" reporters are "corporate lobbyists" for minority shareholder Carlos Slim and Hillary Clinton, suggesting Slim's motivation is that he "comes from Mexico". Trump also said the accusers may instead have been motivated by fame or money. He went on to wonder why President Barack Obama had not been accused yet, and denied the Jessica Leeds allegation by saying "she would not be my first choice."


text: In the third 2016 presidential debate, Trump repeated his claims: "I think they want either fame or her campaign did it and I think it's her campaign." At a speech at Gettysburg outlining his vision for his first 100 days, he repeated his denials and stated "all of these liars will be sued after the election is over." To date, however, Trump has not filed suit against any of his accusers.


text: Melania Trump has responded to the allegations by charging Trump's accusers with lying. Melania has insisted her husband is a "gentleman" and claimed that he had become a victim of a conspiracy involving the news media and the Clinton campaign. Melania also advocates that it is important to check the background of these women before confiding in them, as the accusations can be a strategy of the opposition party to defame the President.


text: Although Ivanka Trump has claimed to be shocked over Trump's 2005 lewd "Access Hollywood" tapes, calling them "inappropriate and offensive", she has refused directly to address the issue of her father's alleged sexual assault. In contrast, Donald Trump Jr. described the 2005 comments as "a fact of life", and Eric Trump dismissed all allegations of assault as "dirty tricks" from the Clinton campaign.


text: Leeds's and Crooks's allegations, published by "The New York Times" on October 13, were disputed by Trump's campaign as having "no merit or veracity". The campaign alleged that the "Times" had a vendetta against Trump. The "Los Angeles Times" stated that they verified the stories with friends and family members of the accusers to ensure that the stories had been relayed to them earlier. The Trump campaign issued this statement through its spokesman Jason Miller:


text: Trump's attorneys demanded a retraction of the "Times" article and an apology for what they said was a "libelous article"—defamation designed to destroy Trump's run for president. David McCraw, assistant general counsel for the "Times", responded on October 13, 2016, to the libel claims from Trump's attorney. He said Trump's reputation is damaged and "could not be further affected" due to his own statements, like those he made on the Howard Stern show. McCraw continues, "it would have been a disservice not just to our readers but to democracy itself to silence [the accusers'] voices." In response to the request to retract the story, McCraw said, "We decline to do so" and that Trump was free to pursue the matter in court.


text: Trump's attorney, Michael D. Cohen, has defended Trump by saying the accusers are not women Trump would find to be attractive.


text: In October 2017, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked if "the official White House position that all of these women are lying", in reference to the sexual harassment claims against Trump by at least 16 women. Sanders replied, "Yeah, we've been clear on that from the beginning, and the president's spoken on it". In November 2017, Trump criticized Senator Al Franken in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against Franken. This resulted in Sanders describing "a very clear distinction" between the allegations against Trump and Franken: "Franken has admitted wrongdoing and the president hasn't".


text: In December 2017, after several of Trump's accusers called on Trump to resign, Sanders said, "the president has addressed these accusations directly and denied all of these allegations, [which] took place long before he was elected." Since Americans elected Trump to office "at a decisive election", Sanders said, "we feel like these allegations have been answered through that process."


text: The hashtag #WhyWomenDontReport started trending on Twitter in response to the Trump campaign's statements that the accusers lack credibility. Many commentators disputed the claim that the timing of the allegations during the presidential campaign has a bearing on how likely the events were. The range of reasons given for why women are reluctant to immediately report sexual assault included fear of reprisals, fear that no one will believe them, the low likelihood of obtaining justice against the assailant, and the traumatic experience of having to be reminded of the event. Liz Plank points out that Trump's accusers are now experiencing all these factors since coming forward. Civil rights lawyer Debra Katz and others point out that high-profile cases tend to encourage victims to speak up, even years later. Tom Tremblay, a police specialist in sexual assault, says: "Victims may wait days, weeks, months, years, decades... When one victim comes forward, it's not at all uncommon to see other victims come forward, who are thinking, 'Well, they came forward; now it's not just my word.'" Susan Dominus, writing for "The New York Times Magazine", hopes this backlash against Trump will lead more people to believe women's stories in the future.


text: "The Washington Times" online opinion editor and Fox News contributor Monica Crowley said in October 2016 that the accusations come across as a "classical political hit job" on Trump. "Fox and Friends" co-host Ainsley Earhardt said the allegations were "definitely coordinated" and questioned why the media had given more coverage to the allegations than the Podesta emails.


text: MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said he was not skeptical of the stories, but "I think it's good to be skeptical when you have stories that are 30 years old that come out days before an election." Fox News Media analyst Howard Kurtz wrote in a column that it was "possible to find the allegations troubling while also questioning their timing and whether it's no accident that the women are breaking their silence a month before the election."


text: The day after "The New York Times" reported the allegations, First Lady Michelle Obama delivered a widely praised speech on women's experiences of sexism and sexually predatory behavior. Chris Cillizza of "The Washington Post" said the speech "will go down as one of the most important of this political cycle, a moment in which she crystallized the feelings of many women in the wake of the Trump tape".


text: Michelle Obama had planned to deliver her normal campaign speech, but said during her speech it would have been "dishonest and disingenuous" to do so, as she felt compelled to address Trump's remarks on women. The speech was "a message she'd been seeking to deliver for a long time about Donald Trump's cruel language toward women". In her speech Obama denounced the Trump tape and Trump's alleged advances: "This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior, and actually bragging about kissing and groping women... And to make matters worse, it now seems very clear that this isn't an isolated incident." Her speech discussed the history of similar behavior, and the obstacles it places in women's lives, her voice occasionally trembling with emotion:


text: A survey conducted by YouGov in October 2016 found that 43 percent of respondents found the allegations to be credible. Republicans were least likely to find the allegations credible, and only 19 percent of Republicans thought sexual assault would disqualify Trump from the presidency. A year after the election, and after the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations and subsequent Me Too movement, 86 percent of Clinton voters found the allegations credible, while only 6 percent of Trump voters did.


text: In June 2020 the "Michigan Journal of Gender & Law" called for a government inquiry into Trump's sexual misconduct, arguing that existing civil litigation and media accounts had not adequately addressed Trump’s sexual misconduct.


text: in 2021 Andrew Prokop argued in an article for Vox that Trump calculated that his populist appeal and cult of personality would make Republican Party elites afraid to cross him, allowing him to weather the allegations. Prokop also suggested that the Republican Party was less inclined to show that they take sexual misconduct allegations seriously.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Neri Oxman (; born February 6, 1976) is an American–Israeli designer and professor at the MIT Media Lab, where she led the Mediated Matter research group. She is known for art and architecture that combine design, biology, computing, and materials engineering.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Her work embodies environmental design and digital morphogenesis, with shapes and properties that are determined by their context. She coined the phrase "material ecology" to define her work, placing materials in context. Stylistic trademarks include brightly colored and textured surfaces with structure at many scales, and composite materials whose hardness, color, and shape vary over an object. The results are often in collaboration with or inspired by nature and biology.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Many of Oxman's projects use new platforms and techniques for 3D printing and fabrication. They include co-fabrication systems for building hybrid structures with silkworms ("Silk Pavilion"), bees ("Synthetic Apiary"), and ants; "Aguahoja", a water-based fabrication platform that built structures such as "Aguahoja" out of chitosan;


title: Neri Oxman

text: and "G3DP", the first 3D printer for optically transparent glass. Some of these platforms have been developed for broader use. Other projects print clothing, wearables, or structural elements, sometimes developing new composite materials in the process (such as resins containing biosynthetic bacteria).


title: Neri Oxman

text: Oxman has had exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art [MoMA], Boston's Museum of Science, SFMOMA, and the Centre Pompidou, which have her works in their permanent collections. MoMA curator Paola Antonelli called her "a person ahead of her time, not of her time",


title: Neri Oxman

text: Neri Oxman was born in Haifa, Israel, the daughter of architecture professors Robert and Rivka Oxman. Her sister Keren, is an artist. Oxman grew up in Israel, spending time in her parents' architecture studio and at her grandmother's house, which she said "cultivated in me a sense of wonder."


title: Neri Oxman

text: After graduating from the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa in 1993, she served two years in the Israeli Air Force, reaching the rank of first lieutenant. Following her military service, she attended Hebrew University's Hadassah Medical School for two years before switching her studies to architecture. She began her architectural studies at Technion Israel Institute of Technology and finished her degree at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, graduating in 2004. In 2005, Oxman began Ph.D. studies in architectural design and computation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, advised by William J. Mitchell. Her thesis focused on material-aware design. She graduated from the doctoral program in 2010.


title: Neri Oxman

text: In 2006, Oxman launched an interdisciplinary research project at MIT called "material ecology," to experiment with generative design. She became a professor at MIT in 2010, founding the interdisciplinary Mediated Matter group at the MIT Media Lab, and was awarded tenure in 2017.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Her research interests involve parametric and contextual design, including engineering techniques to realize those designs in various materials and contexts. Examples include creating a "skin" for buildings that can tan in the sun to create shade, and structural biodegradable polymers. She has published collaborations in biology, medicine, wearables, and the design of fabrication tools.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Her work has been mentioned as an inspiration for changing how materials and structures are designed. Her wearable collection was described by Andrew Bolton as "otherworldly—defined by neither time nor place". In 2016, she helped launch the open "Journal of Design Science", an "antidisciplinary" journal which journal co-founder Joi Ito described as "working in spaces that simply do not fit into any existing academic discipline." She wrote that science, engineering, design and art are connected, with the output of each serving as input for the others.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Oxman's work is in the permanent collections of museums including New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna, the Smithsonian, and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and Museum of Science. In 2020, the MoMA displayed the first exhibition of her work as its own collection.


title: Neri Oxman

text: In 2016, Oxman worked with Björk to create a mask based on the singer's face, and worked with Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen to 3D-print a collection of wearable couture.


title: Neri Oxman

text: In 2021, her architecture studio, Oxman Architects, announced plans for a design and research space in Manhattan. They also produced a documentary titled "Nature × Humanity", describing their work.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Oxman's philosophy of material ecology was developed in 2006 while a graduate student at MIT. It combines 3D printing techniques with biology, engineering, materials science, and computer science to create objects and structures through growth and without assembly. She proposed developing a material ecology with "holistic products, characterized by property gradients and multi-functionality" – placing humanity in harmony with nature, in contrast to assembly lines and “a world made of parts".


title: Neri Oxman

text: She described her work as shifting "from "consuming" nature as a geological resource to "editing" it as a biological one." This includes using biological shapes as inspiration, textures, and even fabrication, such as the glowing bacteria in "Mushtari" and the silkworms in the "Silk Pavilion".


title: Neri Oxman

text: Antonelli described Oxman's work as a way to "decipher nature's myriad [design] lessons and render them digitally for future application at all scales"


title: Neri Oxman

text: Oxman has spoken and written about her philosophy and its applications to design. Her approach to form generation and environmental design is cited by rapid prototypers in other fields, and her 2015 TED talk on material ecology has been viewed over 2.5 million times.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Much of Oxman's early work focused on 3D printing related to human uses, including projects like "Carpal Skin", which used the profile of pain for a person with carpal tunnel syndrome to ease their discomfort. She also produced "Monocoque" (2007), a demonstration of how a printed structure could support its weight via its exterior skin rather than interior supports. This required a printer that could simultaneously print multiple materials with different structural properties, a process she named 'variable property rapid prototyping'.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Started in 2010, Oxman's research and design lab at MIT, the Mediated Matter group, used computational design, digital fabrication, 3D printing, materials science and synthetic biology to work with both small and large structures. The group developed its own methods and printing platforms, and worked with a range of 3D production systems. Projects have ranged in scale from enclosures and large furniture, to artwork and clothes, to biocomposites, artificial valves, and DNA assembly. Production methods include taking images of a biological or natural sample, developing algorithms to produce similar structures, and developing new manufacturing processes to realize the results.


title: Neri Oxman

text: The "Silk Pavilion", an installation designed in 2013, was noted for its fabrication method as much as its final form. It was woven by 6,500 free-ranging silkworms on a nylon-frame dome. Experiments with the silkworms identified how they would respond to different surfaces, and what would encourage them to spin onto an existing structure rather than spinning a cocoon. The frame of a large polyhedral dome was loosely woven by a robotic arm out of thin nylon threads, and suspended in an open room. The dome was designed with gaps where it would be warmest. Silkworms were released onto the frame in waves, where they added layers of silk before being removed. This involved engineering, sericulture, and modeling sun in the room. The resulting pavilion was hung so that people could stand inside it. This was reprised in 2020 for "Silk Pavilion II", installed as part of the Oxman exhibition at MoMA.


title: Neri Oxman

text: The "Synthetic Apiary", a room-sized installation built in 2015, studied the behavior of bees in an indoor environment, including how they built hives in and around different structures. This was developed in collaboration with a beekeeping company, as a way of testing possible responses to colony loss, and exploring how biological niches could be integrated into buildings.


title: Neri Oxman

text: In 2012, Oxman printed a set of body-sized wearables, "Imaginary Beings," inspired by legendary creatures. She also collaborated with van Herpen and materials engineer Craig Carter on "Anthozoa", a cape and skirt evocative of marine life.


title: Neri Oxman

text: In 2015, she designed the "Wanderers" collection, inspired by interplanetary exploration, in collaboration with Christoph Bader and Dominik Kolb. The collection included the "Living Mushtari" chestpiece, a model digestive tract filled containing a colony of microorganisms that could sustain life in harsh environments"."


title: Neri Oxman

text: In 2016, she produced "Rottlace," a 3D-printed mask for Björk, based on a 3D scan of the performer's face. Björk wore it in the world's first 360° virtual reality livestream. Oxman also developed "Lazarus", a project designed to capture the wearer's last breath, and began work on "Vespers", a collection of 15 death masks. The masks were divided into past, present, and future, and embedded with minerals and bacteria.


title: Neri Oxman

text: In 2014, she collaborated with Carter on "Gemini", a chaise longue with a milled wood frame and 3D-printed upholstery designed for both structural and acoustical properties, designed to recreate a calming womb-like environment. It was produced with a combination of additive and subtractive printing. SFMOMA acquired the piece the next year. This work gave rise to a model for a larger scale "Gemini Cinema".


title: Neri Oxman

text: Mediated Matter also prototyped new platforms and tools for printing. These included a printer that can print entire sections of rooms, a glass printer, and a quick-curing printer that can make free-standing objects without support structures.


title: Neri Oxman

text: In 2014, they developed "G3DP", the first 3D printer to produce optically transparent glass. At the time, sintering 3D printers could print with glass powder, but the results were brittle and opaque. "G3DP" was a collaboration with MIT's Glass Lab and the Wyss Institute, emulating traditional glass working processes, with a kiln and annealing chamber. The process allowed close control of color, transparency, thickness and texture. Certain settings turned the printer into a "molten glass sewing machine". Two generations of the printer, "G3DP" and "G3DP2", produced collection of vessels that have gone on exhibit as "Glass I" and "Glass II".


title: Neri Oxman

text: A 10-foot glass and light sculpture printed by this platform,"YET", was installed at the 2017 Milan Design Week.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Also in 2014, the group developed "Aguahoja", a project involving a water-based fabrication platform that built structures out of chitosan, a curable water-soluble organic fiber similar to chitin. Structural pillars or long leaves could be made by varying how the fibers were deposited. The resulting combination of hard and soft structures could change from solid to willowy over the length of a branch or leaf, using the same base material. This was demonstrated in a pair of installations, "Aguahoja I" and "II", featuring a central 15-foot tall sculpture resembling "enormous, folded cicada wings".


title: Neri Oxman

text: In 2016, the group developed a large-scale robotic printing system, the "Digital Construction Platform" (DCP), which printed polyurethane foam molds with a robot arm based on the Altec aerial work platform. DCP v2 was able to print a section of a dome 15 meters across and 4 meters high.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Starting in 2018, the Mediated Matter lab developed the "Totems" project, exploring ways to extract melanin from different species and embed it in 3D-printed structures. This led to a concept for buildings with facades that respond to sunlight, such as a proposed architectural pavilion initiated by Ravi Naidoo and introduced at his Design Indaba conference.


title: Neri Oxman

text: In 2019, an MIT report revealed that the lab had received $125,000 from Jeffrey Epstein, part of a series of donations he made to the Media Lab and its director Joi Ito.


title: Neri Oxman

text: From 2017 to 2020, a new Silk Pavilion was developed, "Silk Pavilion II", exploring new potential models for gathering silk from silkworms without needing to boil cocoons and end the silkworm's lifecycle.


title: Neri Oxman

text: In 2020, the lab produced a new Aguahoja installation, "Aguahoja III", identical to the first but stored in a climate-controlled gallery. This is intended to serve as a long-term control against which to compare the original, in measuring how chitosan degrades or is influenced by environmental changes. The lab stopped active work in 2021.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Starting in 2020, Oxman's studio, Oxman Architects, has explored similar themes in their projects. They produced a documentary about their work, "Nature × Humanity", which became the name of an 2022 exhibition of their work at SFMOMA.


title: Neri Oxman

text: In 2020, she created the final version of "Silk Pavilion II", weaving a new pavilion in Padua, Italy in collaboration with a silkworm-rearing facility in nearby Teolo. The structure was constructed on a dissolvable hyperboloid.


title: Neri Oxman

text: In 2021, her team revisited the Synthetic Apiary"," constructing a new environment for bees to build hives, printed with embedded pheromones. The resulting hive structures were analyzed by CT scans to allow digital reconstruction and provide insight into the bees' construction process. They also designed an experiment testing how bees respond to low-gravity environments, and fabricated a new type of payload module to house the experiment on a Blue Origin suborbital flight.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Oxman's early projects took the form of surfaces, furniture, or objects that could be worn or put on display. Since 2013, most projects have included temporary or interactive installations, including an overview of the production processes and study of its mechanism and material properties. These include both mechanical processes, such as for "Ocean Pavilion" and "Glass I," and biological ones, such as for "Silk Pavilion" and "Synthetic Apiary." Exhibited works are largely in the permanent collections of museums; Silk Pavilion II was acquired by the Esquel Group in Hong Kong.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Oxman is a senior fellow in the Design Futures Council, and a Royal Designer for Industry in the UK. She has won the Vilcek Prize in Design, a National Design Award, and a SFMOMA Contemporary Vision Award.


title: Neri Oxman

text: In 2016, she served as a culture leader at the World Economic Forum and received MIT's Collier Medal. In 2018, she received a Design Innovation Medal from the London Design Festival. "Aguahoja I" was named "Sustainable Design of the Year" and "Design Project of the Year" in "Dezeen"'s annual awards.


title: Neri Oxman

text: Oxman was previously married to Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov. In 2019, she married investor and hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, with whom she has a daughter. They are co-trustees of the Pershing Square Foundation.


title: SAS: Who Dares Wins

text: SAS: Who Dares Wins is a reality quasi-military training television programme broadcast by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom since 19 October 2015. There have been seven main series and four celebrity spin-off series.


title: SAS: Who Dares Wins

text: The show pits contestants against harsh environments all around the world in a shortened two-week long training course that is designed to replicate a number of elements of the actual United Kingdom Special Forces selection course; a notoriously difficult programme that has been known to claim the lives of those who take it on. The show's directing staff take the recruits through hostile and unforgiving warfare environments, while testing their mental and physical ability through a series of tests.


title: SAS: Who Dares Wins

text: The fourth series which aired in early 2019 allowed female recruits to take part for the first time, in line with the Ministry of Defence's announcement that Special Forces selection would be open to women. The fifth series proper aired in January and February 2020.


title: SAS: Who Dares Wins

text: The Chief Instructor was Ant Middleton who is an ex-United Kingdom Special Forces operator serving in the Special Boat Service. He was dismissed from the show by Channel 4 in 2021 over his 'personal conduct'. In October 2021, former United States Recon Marine Rudy Reyes was announced as the series's new Chief Instructor. The other Directing Staff (DS) instructors are: Jason Fox, a former SBS operator; Mark 'Billy' Billingham, an ex-SAS Sergeant Major; and veteran Navy SEAL Senior Chief Remi Adeleke - who left in 2022, after appearing in that year's civilian and celebrity series.


title: SAS: Who Dares Wins

text: Series 8 will see the contestants tested in the jungle of Thung Ui, north Vietnam, and Mark 'Billy' Billingham will be the Chief Instructor because of his extensive jungle warfare training. Joining the Directing Staff is Chris Oliver - a former Royal Marine Mountain Leader and ex-Special Boat Service operator.


title: SAS: Who Dares Wins

text: In April 2019, a special series in which all of the recruits were celebrities was aired as "Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins", for "Stand Up to Cancer" UK. Among the celebrity recruits were Victoria Pendleton, Ben Foden, Heather Fisher, AJ Odudu, Jeff Brazier, Wayne Bridge, Sam Thompson ("Made in Chelsea"), Andrea McLean, Jeremy Irvine, Dev, Louise Mensch and Camilla Thurlow ("Love Island").


title: SAS: Who Dares Wins

text: A second celebrity series began airing on Monday 20 April 2020. Among the celebrity recruits were: Katie Price, Joey Essex, Anthea Turner, Helen Skelton, Brendan Cole, John Fashanu, Nikki Sanderson, Jack Maynard (YouTube star), Lauren Steadman, Locksmith (DJ of Rudimental), Tony Bellew and Yasmin Evans.


title: SAS: Who Dares Wins

text: A third celebrity series began airing on 29 August 2021. Among the celebrity recruits were: Ulrika Jonsson, Kerry Katona, Alexandra Burke, Wes Nelson, James Cracknell, Shanaze Reade, Ore Oduba, Aled Davies, Vicky Pattison, Saira Khan, Kieron Dyer and Jake Quickenden.


title: SAS: Who Dares Wins

text: A fourth series began airing on 4 September 2022. Among the celebrity recruits were: Calum Best, Maisie Smith, Jonathan Broom-Edwards, Ashley Cain, Dwain Chambers, Shannon Courtenay, Jennifer Ellison, Jade Jones, Amber Gill, AJ Pritchard, Curtis Pritchard, Ferne McCann, Pete Wicks and Fatima Whitbread; she was 60 years old when the series was filmed and is the show's oldest recruit.


title: SAS: Who Dares Wins

text: An Australian version of the show is currently being produced for Seven Network as "". The Swedish version, "" (English: Secrets of the Elite Force), is broadcast on TV4 and premiered on 24 January 2021. It won the reality show category award at Kristallen 2021. The Finnish version, "Erikoisjoukot" (English: Special Forces), premiered on 30 May 2022, on Nelonen and its streaming service Ruutu. An American version, "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test", is set to premiere on 4 January 2023 on Fox.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: COMUSJAPAN plans, directs, and supervises the execution of missions and responsibilities assigned by the Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (COMUSINDOPACOM). They establish and implement policies to accomplish the mission of the United States Armed Forces in Japan and are responsible for developing plans for the defense of the country.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: USFJ supports the Security Treaty and administers the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the United States and Japan. They are responsible for coordinating various matters of interest with the service commanders in Japan. These include matters affecting US-Japan relationships among and between the United States Department of Defense; DOD agencies and the U.S. Ambassador to Japan; and DOD agencies and the Government of Japan (GOJ).


title: United States Forces Japan

text: Under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan, the United States is obliged to provide Japan in close cooperation with the Japan Self-Defense Forces, with maritime defense, ballistic missile defense, domestic air control, communications security, and disaster response.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: After the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II in Asia, the United States Armed Forces assumed administrative authority in Japan. The Japanese Imperial Army and Navy were decommissioned, and the U.S. Armed Forces took control of Japanese military bases until a new government could be formed and positioned to reestablish authority. Allied forces planned to demilitarize Japan, and the new government adopted the Constitution of Japan with a no-armed-force clause in 1947.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: After the Korean War began in 1950, Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan and the Japanese government established the paramilitary "National Police Reserve", which was later developed into the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF).


title: United States Forces Japan

text: In 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco was signed by the allied countries and Japan, which restored its formal sovereignty. At the same time, the U.S. and Japan signed the Japan-America Security Alliance. By this treaty, USFJ is responsible for the defense of Japan. As part of this agreement, the Japanese government requested that the U.S. military bases remain in Japan, and agreed to provide funds and various interests specified in the Status of Forces Agreement. At the expiration of the treaty, the United States and Japan signed the new Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan. The status of the United States Forces Japan was defined in the U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement. This treaty is still in effect, and it forms the basis of Japan's foreign policy.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: During the Vietnam War, US military bases in Japan, especially those in the Okinawa Prefecture, were used as important strategic and logistic bases. In 1970, the Koza riot occurred against the US military presence on Okinawa. The USAF strategic bombers were deployed in the bases on Okinawa, which were still administered by the U.S. government. Before the 1972 reversion of the island to Japanese administration, it has been speculated but never confirmed that up to 1,200 nuclear weapons may have been stored at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa during the 1960s.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: , there are approximately 50,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan, along with approximately 40,000 dependents of military personnel and another 5,500 American civilians employed there by the United States Department of Defense. The United States Seventh Fleet is based in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. The 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) is based on Okinawa. 130 USAF fighters are stationed in the Misawa Air Base and Kadena Air Base.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: The Japanese government paid ¥217 billion (US$2.0 billion) in 2007 as annual host-nation support called . As of the 2011 budget, such payment was no longer to be referred to as "omoiyari yosan" or "sympathy budget". Japan compensates 75 percent of U.S. basing costs — $4.4 billion.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: Immediately after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, 9,720 dependents of United States military and government civilian employees in Japan evacuated the country, mainly to the United States.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: The relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko was resolved in December 2013 with the signing of a landfill agreement by the governor of Okinawa. Under the terms of the U.S.-Japan agreement, five thousand U.S. Marines were relocated to Guam and four thousand U.S. Marines to other Pacific locations such as Hawaii or Australia while around ten thousand Marines were to remain on Okinawa. No timetable for the Marines redeployment was announced, but "The Washington Post" reported that U.S. Marines would leave Okinawa as soon as suitable facilities on Guam and elsewhere were ready. The relocation move was expected to cost 8.6 billion US dollars, including a $3.1bn cash commitment from Japan for the move to Guam as well as for developing joint training ranges on Guam and on Tinian and Pagan in the Northern Mariana Islands. Certain parcels of land on Okinawa which were leased for use by the American military were supposed to be turned back to Japanese control via a long-term phased return process according to the agreement. These returns have been ongoing since 1972. In October 2020, Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz was activated on Guam. The new base is meant to house Marine relocated from Okinawa, with the final relocation planned for 2025.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: In May 2014, in a strategic shift by the United States to Asia and the Pacific, it was revealed the US was deploying two unarmed Global Hawk long-distance surveillance drones to Japan for surveillance missions over China and North Korea.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: As of May 2022, the stationing of U.S. military personnel at military facilities across Okinawa Island remains a hotly-contested and controversial issue, with the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma often being at the forefront of protests against the presence of U.S. military presence on the island. Despite an agreement to relocate Marine Corps Air Station Futenma first being reached by the Japanese and U.S. governments in 1996, progress to relocate the base has stalled due to widespread anti-base protests across Okinawa centering on concerns relating to crimes perpetrated by U.S. military personnel stationed on Okinawa and the existence of environmental pollution resulting from the construction, operation and potential relocation of U.S. military bases on Okinawa.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: Okinawa makes up only 0.6 percent of the nation's land area; yet, approximately 62% of United States bases in Japan (exclusive use only) are on Okinawa.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: The U.S. government employs over eight thousand Master Labor Contract (MLC)/Indirect Hire Agreement (IHA) workers on Okinawa (per the Labor Management Organization), not including Okinawan contract workers.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: In 2002, 73.4% of Japanese citizens stated that the Japan-US security treaty is useful for Japan's peace and security but part of the population demands a reduction in the number of U.S. military bases on Okinawa.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: In May 2010, a survey of the Okinawan people conducted by the "Mainichi Shimbun" and the "Ryūkyū Shimpō", found that 71% of Okinawans surveyed thought that the presence of Marines on Okinawa was not necessary (15% said it was necessary). When asked what they thought about 62% of exclusive use United States Forces Japan bases being concentrated on Okinawa, 50% said that the number should be reduced and 41% said that the bases should be removed. When asked about the US-Japan security treaty, 55% said it should be a peace treaty, 14% said it should be abolished, and 7% said it should be maintained.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: Many of the bases, such as Yokota Air Base, Naval Air Facility Atsugi and Kadena Air Base, are located in the vicinity of residential districts, and local citizens have complained about excessive aircraft noise. The 2014 poll by "Ryūkyū Shimpō" found that 80% of surveyed Okinawans want the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma moved out of the prefecture.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: On 25 June 2018, Okinawan residents protested against the construction of a new airfield intended for the US military base in the United States. The activists, armed with placards and banners, went to sea on seventy boats and ships. Protesters urged the Japanese authorities to stop the expansion of the US military presence on the island. Some of the boats went to the guarded construction site, where they came across the Coast Guard patrol vessels. Some activists were arrested for entering a prohibited zone.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: On 11 August 2018, about 70,000 protesters gathered at a park in the prefecture capital of Naha to protest the planned relocation of a U.S military base on the southern Japanese island. Opponents of the relocation say the plan to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from a crowded neighborhood to a less-populated coastal site would not only affect the environment, but would also go against local wishes to have the base moved from the island entirely.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: There is also debate over the Status of Forces Agreement due to the fact that it covers a variety of administrative technicalities blending the systems which control how certain situations are handled between the U.S.'s and Japan's legal framework.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: Between 1972 and 2009, U.S. servicemen committed 5,634 criminal offenses, including 25 murders, 385 burglaries, 25 arsons, 127 rapes, 306 assaults, and 2,827 thefts. Yet, per Marine Corps Installations Pacific data, U.S. service members are convicted of far fewer crimes than local Okinawans. According to the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, when U.S. personnel crimes are committed both off-duty and off-base, they should always be prosecuted under the Japanese law.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: On 12 February 2008, the National Police Agency (of Japan) or NPA, released its annual criminal statistics that included activity within the Okinawa prefecture. These findings held American troops were only convicted of 53 crimes per 10,000 U.S. male servicemen, while Okinawan males were convicted of 366 crimes per 10,000. The crime rate found a U.S. serviceman on Okinawa to be 86% less likely to be convicted of a crime by the Japanese government than an Okinawan male.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: At the beginning of the occupation of Japan, in 1945, many U.S. soldiers participated in the Special Comfort Facility Association. The Japanese government enslaved 55,000 women to work providing sexual services to US military personnel. The Association was closed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: In more recent history, "crimes ranging from rape to assault and hit-and-run accidents by U.S. military personnel, dependents and civilians have long sparked protests in the prefecture," stated "The Japan Times". "A series of horrific crimes by present and former U.S. military personnel stationed on Okinawa has triggered dramatic moves to try to reduce the American presence on the island and in Japan as a whole," commented "The Daily Beast" in 2009.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: In 1995, the abduction and rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan schoolgirl by two U.S. Marines and one U.S. sailor led to demands for the removal of all U.S. military bases in Japan. Other controversial incidents include helicopter crashes, the Girard incident, the Michael Brown Okinawa assault incident, the death of the Kinjo family and the death of Yuki Uema. In February 2008, a 38-year-old U.S. Marine based on Okinawa was arrested in connection with the reported rape of a 14-year-old Okinawan girl. This triggered waves of protest against American military presence on Okinawa and led to tight restrictions on off-base activities. Although the accuser withdrew her charges, the U.S. military court-martialed the suspect and sentenced him to four years in prison under the stricter rules of the military justice system.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: U.S. Forces Japan designated 22 February as a "Day of Reflection" for all U.S. military facilities in Japan, and established the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Task Force in an effort to prevent similar incidents. In November 2009, Staff Sgt. Clyde "Drew" Gunn, a U.S. Army soldier stationed at Torii Station was involved in a hit-and-run accident of a pedestrian in Yomitan Village on Okinawa. Later, in April 2010, the soldier was charged with failing to render aid and vehicular manslaughter. Staff Sgt. Gunn, of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was eventually sentenced to two years and eight months in jail on 15 October 2010.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: In 2013, two U.S. military personnel, Seaman Christopher Browning of Athens, Texas, and Petty Officer 3rd Class Skyler Dozierwalker of Muskogee, Oklahoma, were found guilty by the Naha District Court of raping and robbing a woman in her 20s in a parking lot in October. Both admitted committing the crime. The case outraged many Okinawans, a number of whom have long complained of military-related crime on their island, which hosts thousands of U.S. troops. It also sparked tougher restrictions for all 50,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan, including a curfew and drinking restrictions.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: On 13 May 2013, in a controversial statement, Toru Hashimoto, co-leader of the Japan Restoration Association said to a senior American military official at the Marine Corps base on Okinawa that "we can’t control the sexual energy of these brave marines." He said that United States soldiers should make more use of the local adult entertainment industry to reduce sexual crimes against local women. Hashimoto also spoke of the necessity of former Japanese Army comfort women and of prostitutes for the U.S. military in other countries such as Korea.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: In June 2016, after a civilian worker at the base was charged with murdering a Japanese woman, thousands of people protested on Okinawa. Organizers estimated turnout at 65,000 people, which was the largest anti-base protests on Okinawa since 1995.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: In November 2017, an intoxicated U.S. service member was arrested following a vehicle crash on Okinawa that killed the other driver.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: In October 2012, twelve MV-22 Ospreys were transferred to the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to replace aging Vietnam-era Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters on Okinawa. In October 2013, an additional 12 Ospreys arrived, again to replace CH-46 Sea Knights, increasing the number of Ospreys to 24. Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto explained that the Osprey aircraft is safe, adding that two recent accidents were "caused by human factors". Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda also stated that the Japanese government was convinced of the MV-22's safety.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: Various incidents involving V-22 Ospreys have occurred on Okinawa. On 5 April 2018, it was announced that the U.S. Air Force would officially deploy CV-22 Osprey aircraft at its Yokota Air Base on the outskirts of Tokyo. The deployment would be the first of Ospreys in Japan other than on Okinawa, where the U.S. Marines had already deployed their version of the aircraft, known as the MV-22s.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: More recently, environmental concerns have taken the forefront of the debate over the presence of U.S. military forces on the island of Okinawa. Since the late 1990s, environmental concerns elevated by both local residents as well as larger Okinawan and Japanese environmental action groups and independent activists have often resulted in public protests and demonstrations against the relocation of existing U.S. military bases and the construction of new replacement facilities, which have been labelled by some as examples of "modern colonialism". In particular, lingering environmental concerns over the disruption or destruction of coastal and marine habitats off the shores of Okinawa from construction, relocation and operation of U.S. military bases on Okinawa, has resulted in the protracted and continuing delayal of plans to relocate military facilities, such as Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: During the late 1990s and early 2000s, initial plans to relocate Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to a new facility located offshore in Henoko Bay were met with strong resistance after sightings of dugong were reported in areas surrounding territory earmarked for the relocated airbase. A critically endangered species, dugong were traditionally fished and hunted throughout Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands. This drew the attention of local, national and international environmental action groups, who raised concerns that land reclamation projects tied to the construction of a new offshore airbase in Henoko Bay would result in the destruction of nearby dugong habitats and coastal ecosystems. Despite this, plans were set forth to continue ahead with the relocation of the base, notably, flouting the results of a 1997 referendum where the majority voted to reject a replacement facility.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: In opposition to this, in September 2003, a group of Okinawan, Japanese and U.S. environmental organizations filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Federal Court to protest the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. This lawsuit, initially entitled "Okinawa Dugong v. Rumsfeld", argued that the U.S. Department of Defense failed to consider the impacts that relocating the base would have upon the local dugong population, in turn, violating the U.S. National Historic Preservation Act. This case was closed in January 2008; notably for the plaintiffs, it was ruled that the Department of Defense, by not considering the impacts of the relocated airbase upon the local dugong population, had in fact violated the National Historic Preservation Act, thus delaying the relocation of the base.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: Concerns over water contamination have also exasperated recent tensions surrounding the presence of U.S. military bases in Okinawa. In June 2020, following the announcement of an earlier leak of firefighting foam from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in April 2020, a water quality study conducted by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment published findings of elevated contamination levels of PFOS and PFOA at 37 different water sources near U.S. military bases and industrial areas which exceeded provisional national targets. Further incidents concerning the release of the cancer-inducing toxins also occurred in August 2021, further worsening tensions over the presence of 'alarming' levels of these toxic chemicals.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: Subsequent tests around Kadena Air Base, specifically the training site 50 meters west of Dakujaku River, confirmed severe contamination in the water system with PFAS chemicals. These chemicals reach 10s of meters underground while plumes spread for several kilometers from these contaminated training sites flowed into nearby wells and waterways of Dakujaku River and Hija River which contaminated the drinking water of 450,000 residents. These toxic chemicals originate from firefighting foams which contain PFAS and were used at training sites of oversees US facilities during the 1970s and 80s. However, the US and Japanese governments say that the source of the issue cannot be confirmed.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: On Okinawa, U.S. military installations occupy about 10.4 percent of the total land usage. Approximately 74.7 percent of all the U.S. military facilities in Japan are located on the island of Okinawa.


title: United States Forces Japan

text: The United States has returned some facilities to Japanese control. Some are used as military bases of the JSDF; others have become civilian airports or government offices; many are factories, office buildings or residential developments in the private sector. Due to the Special Actions Committee on Okinawa, more land on Okinawa is in the process of being returned. These areas include Camp Kuwae (also known as Camp Lester), MCAS Futenma, areas within Camp Zukeran (also known as Camp Foster) located about of the Northern Training Area, Aha Training Area, Gimbaru Training Area (also known as Camp Gonsalves), a small portion of the Makiminato Service Area (also known as Camp Kinser), and Naha Port.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: The Boko Haram insurgency began in July 2009, when the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. The conflict is taking place within the context of long-standing issues of religious violence between Nigeria's Muslim and Christian communities, and the insurgents' ultimate aim is to establish an Islamic state in the region.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: Boko Haram's initial uprising failed, and its leader Mohammed Yusuf was killed by the Nigerian government. He began the group in the year 2002, with a view of opposing western education with his followers. He was arrested at his parent's inlaws house by the Nigerian Military and subsequently handed over to the Nigerian police. He was survived by four wives and 12 children one of which was Abu Musab al-Barnawi who in the year 2016 wanted to lead the group. The movement consequently fractured into autonomous groups and started an insurgency, though rebel commander Abubakar Shekau managed to achieve a kind of primacy among the insurgents. Though challenged by internal rivals, such as Abu Usmatul al-Ansari's Salafist conservative faction and the Ansaru faction, Shekau became the insurgency's "de facto" leader and mostly kept the different Boko Haram factions from fighting each other, instead focusing on overthrowing the Nigerian government. Supported by other jihadist organizations including al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab, Shekau's tactics were marked by extreme brutality and explicit targeting of civilians.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: After years of fighting, the insurgents became increasingly aggressive and began to seize large areas in northeastern Nigeria. The violence escalated dramatically in 2014 with 10.849 deaths, while Boko Haram drastically expanded its territories. At the same time, the insurgency spread to neighboring Cameroon, Chad, Mali, and Niger, thus becoming a major regional conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa. Meanwhile, Shekau attempted to improve his international standing among jihadists by tacitly aligning with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in March 2015, with Boko Haram becoming the "Islamic State's West Africa Province" (ISWAP).


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: The insurgents were driven back during the 2015 West African offensive by a Nigeria-led coalition of African and Western countries, forcing the Islamists to retreat into Sambisa Forest and bases at Lake Chad. Discontent about various issues consequently grew among Boko Haram. Dissidents among the movement allied themselves with IS' central command and challenged Shekau's leadership, resulting in a violent split of the insurgents. Since then, Shekau and his group are generally referred to as "Boko Haram", whereas the dissidents continued to operate as ISWAP under Abu Musab al-Barnawi. The two factions consequently fought against each other while waging insurgencies against the local governments. After a period of reversals, Boko Haram and ISWAP launched new offensives in 2018 and 2019, again growing in strength.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: When Boko Haram's insurgency was at its peak in the mid-2010s, it was the world's deadliest terrorist organization, in terms of the number of people it killed. In a bid to ensure dialog between government and the deadly sect, the President Jonathan administration set up a committee to grant an amnesty to the Boko Haram sect. Some details of the amnesty includes granting of pardons to Boko Haram fighters and also listening to clamour from different ethnic groups under the sect with a bid to ending the violence perpetrated by the deadly sect. This amnesty was rejected by the sect in an audio broadcast that was sent by its leader on the grounds that they are fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north and that it is the government that is committing atrocities against Muslims.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: In May 2021 ISWAP attacked and overran Boko Haram militants in the Sambisa Forest and the leader of Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau was killed during the fighting, reportedly using a suicide vest. In August Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the leading commander of ISWAP, was killed. Different reports of his death circulated, alleging that he had either been killed by the Nigerian Army or as a result of inter-ISWAP power struggles.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: After Shekau's death masses of Boko Haram militants surrendered while others defected to ISWAP. According to the Nigerian Defence Forces, as of April 5, a total of 51,114 rebels and families, consisting of 11,398 men, 15,381 women, and 24,335 children, have surrendered.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: Abubakar Sarki a top Boko Haram leader was killed in the Sambisa Forest in May 2022. In a battle of supremacy


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: Sarki was leading a military convoy to Abu-Ubaida’s ISWAP camp, but they were intercepted by the Nigerian army. Sarki and some of his fighters escaped but ran onto another batch of soldiers where he met his demise.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: The radical preacher and leader of Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād, a Boko Haram splinter group, Alhaji Ari-Difinoma, has surrendered to troops of the Nigerian Army on May 16, 2022.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: Nigeria amalgamated both the Northern and Southern protectorate in 1914, about a decade after the defeat of the Sokoto Caliphate and other Islamic states by the British which were to constitute much of Northern Nigeria. Sir Frederick Lugard assumed office as governor of both protectorates in 1912. The aftermath of the First World War saw Germany lose its colonies, one of which was Cameroon, to French, Belgian and British mandates. Cameroon was divided in French and British parts, the latter of which was further subdivided into southern and northern parts. Following a plebiscite in 1961, the Southern Cameroons elected to rejoin French Cameroon, while the Northern Cameroons opted to join Nigeria, a move which added to Nigeria's already large Northern Muslim population. The territory made up much of what is now Northeastern Nigeria, and a large part of the areas affected by the insurgency.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: Religious conflict in Nigeria dates as far back as 1953. The Igbo massacre of 1966 in the North that followed the counter-coup of the same year had as a dual cause the Igbo officers' coup and pre-existing (sectarian) tensions between the Igbos and the local Muslims. This was a major factor in the Biafran secession and the resulting civil war.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a major Islamic uprising led by Maitatsine (Mohammed Marwa) and his followers, Yan Tatsine that led to several thousand deaths. After Maitatsine's death in 1980, the movement continued some five years more.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: In the same decade the erstwhile military ruler of Nigeria, General Ibrahim Babangida enrolled Nigeria in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. This was a move which aggravated religious tensions in the country, particularly among the Christian community. In response, some in the Muslim community pointed out that certain other African member states have smaller proportions of Muslims, as well as Nigeria's diplomatic relations with the Holy See.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: Since the return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999, Sharia has been instituted as a main body of civil and criminal law in 9 Muslim-majority and in some parts of 3 Muslim-plurality states, when then-Zamfara State governor Ahmad Rufai Sani began the push for the institution of Sharia at the state level of government. This was followed by controversy as to the would-be legal status of the non-Muslims in the Sharia system. A spate of Muslim-Christian riots soon emerged.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: In the primarily Islamic northern states of Nigeria, a variety of Muslim groups and populations exist, who favour the nationwide introduction of Sharia Law. The demands of these populations have been at least partially upheld by the Nigerian Federal Government in 12 states, firstly in Zamfara State in 1999. The implementation has been widely attributed as being due to the insistence of Zamfara State governor Ahmad Rufai Sani.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: The death sentences of Amina Lawal and Safiya Hussaini attracted international attention to what many saw as the harsh regime of these laws. These sentences were later overturned; the first execution was carried out in 2002.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: Twelve out of Nigeria's thirty-six states have Sunni Islam as the dominant religion. In 1999, those states chose to have Sharia courts as well as Customary courts. A Sharia court may treat blasphemy as deserving of several punishments up to, and including, execution. In many predominantly Muslim states, conversion from Islam to another religion is illegal and often a capital offence.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: According to a Nigerian study on demographics and religion, Muslims make up 50.5% of the population. Muslims mainly live in the north of the country; the majority of Nigerian Muslims are Sunnis. Christians are the second-largest religious group and make up 48.2% of the population. They predominate in the central and southern parts of the country.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: For reasons of avoiding political controversy, questions of religion were forgone in the 2006 Nigerian census.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: Boko Haram conducted its operations more or less peacefully during the first seven years of its existence. That changed in 2009 when the Nigerian government launched an investigation into the group's activities following reports that its members were arming themselves. Prior to that the government reportedly repeatedly ignored warnings about the increasingly militant character of the organisation, including that of a military officer.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: When the government came into action, several members of the group were arrested in Bauchi, sparking deadly clashes with Nigerian security forces in Bauchi, Maiduguri in Borno State, Potiskum in Yobe State and Wudil in Kano State – which led to the deaths of an estimated 700 people. During the fighting with the security forces Boko Haram fighters reportedly "used fuel-laden motorcycles" and "bows with poison arrows" to attack a police station. The group's founder and then leader Mohammed Yusuf was also killed during this time while still in police custody. After Yusuf's killing, Abubakar Shekau became the leader and held this position in January 2015.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: Nearly six months after the killing of Yusuf, the group carried out its first terrorist attack in Borno in January, killing four people. During the following few years, the violence escalated in terms of both frequency and intensity. On 7 September, a prison break in Bauchi freed more than 700 Boko Haram militants, replenishing their force. On 24 December, Boko Haram used four bombs to kill 32 people in Jos, Plateau State. On the same day, they killed six people in attacks against churches in Maiduguri.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: On 29 May, a few hours after Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as president, several bombings purportedly by Boko Haram killed 15 and injured 55. On 16 June, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the Abuja police headquarters bombing, the first known suicide attack in Nigeria. Two months later the United Nations building in Abuja was bombed, signifying the first time that Boko Haram attacked an international organisation. On 4 November, it carried out attacks in Damaturu in Yobe and in Maiduguri, killing over a hundred people, and on 22 and 23 December clashing with security forces, resulting in at least 68 deaths. On 25 December, Boko Haram attacked several churches with bombings and shootings.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: 15 June marked the start of a Federal Government-sanctioned military effort to counter the growing threat of Boko Haram's insurgency. With 21 Armoured Brigade (21 Bde) of the Nigerian Army as its nucleus, Joint Task Force Operation Restore Order (JTF ORO 1) marked the start of the Army's lengthy counter-insurgency (COIN) campaign against Boko Haram. The campaign has gone through several phases and has greatly escalated in scale, capacity, components and stakeholders, since that time. Results, however, have sometimes been mixed and the Army has been criticised for being too kinetic in its COIN.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: In January in Nigeria, Boko Haram attacked Mubi, Yola and Gombi – all in Adamawa State – in addition to Maiduguri and Kano. During the same month, Abubakar Shekau, a former deputy to Yusuf, appeared in a video posted on YouTube. According to Reuters, Shekau took control of the group after Yusuf's death in 2009. Authorities had previously believed that Shekau died during the 2009 uprising. By early 2012, the group was responsible for over 900 deaths. On 8 March, a small Special Boat Service team and the Nigerian Army attempted to rescue two hostages, Briton Chris McManus and Italian Franco Lamolinara, being held in Sokoto, by members of the Boko Haram terrorist organisation loyal to al-Qaeda. Both hostages were killed by their captors before or during the rescue attempt. All the hostage takers were reportedly killed. On 8 April, at least 38 people were killed by a suicide car bomber in Kaduna. On 24 June, about 40 inmates escaped during a prison break in Damaturu. On 17 June, at least 12 people were killed by three bombings of churches in Kaduna State. On 7 August, 19 people were killed in a mass shooting in Kogi State. On 1–2 November, at least 25 men were killed at the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi. On 25 December, six people were killed in Potiskum and another six in Maiduguri. On 28 December, fifteen people were killed in a village in northeastern Nigeria.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: In May, Nigerian government forces launched an offensive in the Borno region in an attempt to dislodge Boko Haram fighters after a state of emergency was called on 14 May. The state of emergency – which was still in force in May 2014 – applied to the states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa in northeastern Nigeria. The offensive had initial success, but the Boko Haram rebels were able to regain their strength.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: On 8 February, gunmen killed at least nine polio vaccinators in Kano. On 18 March, a suicide car bomber rammed a bus in Kano, killing over 20 people. On 16 and 17 April, dozens of civilians were killed during a battle in Baga, Borno, between Boko Haram and the Nigerian Army. On 6 July, Boko Haram massacred 42 students in Yobe, bringing the school year to an early end in the state. On 5 August, Boko Haram launched dual attacks on Bama and Malam Fatori, leaving 35 dead. On 11 August, Boko Haram killed 44 people in a mass shooting at a mosque in Konduga, Borno. On 6 October, the Nigerian Army won a battle against Boko Haram in Damboa, Borno. On 2 November in Borno, gunmen attacked a convoy returning from a wedding, killing over 30 people.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: On 15 April, Boko Haram terrorists abducted about 276 teenage female pupils from a secondary school in Chibok in Borno. The abduction was widely attributed to Boko Haram. It was reported that the group had taken the girls to neighbouring Cameroon and Chad where they were to be sold into marriages at a price below a dollar each. The abduction of another eight girls was reported later. These kidnappings raised public protests, with some protesters holding placards bearing the Twitter tag #BringBackOurGirls, which had caught international attention. "The Guardian" reported that the British Royal Air Force conducted Operation Turus in Nigeria in April in response to the Chibok kidnapping. A source involved with the operation told "The Observer" that "The girls were located in the first few weeks of the RAF mission", and that "We [RAF] offered to rescue them, but the Nigerian government declined", this was because it viewed any action to be taken as a "national issue", and for it to be resolved by Nigerian intelligence and security services, the source added that the girls were then tracked by the aircraft as they were dispersed into progressively smaller groups over the following months. Several countries pledged support to the Nigerian government and to help their military with intelligence gathering on the whereabouts of the girls and the operational camps of Boko Haram.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: On 20 May, two bombs in the city of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, were detonated, killing at least 118 people and injuring more than 56 others. The bombs exploded 30 minutes apart, one at a local market place at approximately 3:00 and the second in a parking lot next to a hospital at approximately 3:30, where rescuers responding to the first accident were killed. Though no group or individual has claimed responsibility, the attacks have been attributed to Boko Haram.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: First responders were unable to reach the scenes of the accidents, as "thousands of people were fleeing the scene in the opposite direction". The bombs had been positioned to kill as many people as possible, regardless of religion, which differed from previous attacks in which non-Muslims were targeted. The bombers were reported to have used a "back-to-back blast" tactic, in which an initial bomb explodes at a central location and another explodes a short time later with intent to kill people working to rescuing the wounded.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: In 2014, Boko Haram militants increased their attacks on cities and towns in northern Nigeria and captured part of the country's northeast. These attacks included bombings in Maiduguri in January, July and November.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: The increasing intensity of the insurgency prompted the Nigerian government to launch an offensive, and with the help of Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, they recaptured many areas that were formerly under the control of Boko Haram.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: In late 2014, Boko Haram seized control of Bama, Borno, according to the town's residents. In December, it was reported that "people too elderly to flee Gwoza Local Government Area were being rounded up and taken to two schools where the militants opened fire on them." Over 50 elderly people in Bama were killed. A "gory" video was released of insurgents shooting over a hundred civilians in a school dormitory in the town of Bama.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: Between 3 and 7 January, Boko Haram attacked the town of Baga and killed up to 2,000 people, perhaps the largest massacre by Boko Haram.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: On 10 January, 19 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a market in Maiduguri. The city is at the heart of the Boko Haram insurgency. On 12 January, Boko Haram carried out an unsuccessful attack on a Chadian Army base.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: On 23 January, a coalition of military forces from Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger began a counter-insurgency campaign against Boko Haram. In the early hours of 25 January, Boko Haram launched a major assault on the city. On 26 January, CNN reported that the attack on Maiduguri by "hundreds of gunmen" had been repelled, but the nearby town of Monguno was captured by Boko Haram. The Nigerian Army said they repelled another attack on Maiduguri on 31 January.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: On 4 February, the Chad Army killed over 200 Boko Haram militants. On 4 and 5 February, Boko Haram carried out a massacre in Fotokol, Far North Region, Cameroon, killing 81 civilians, 13 Chadian soldiers and 6 Cameroonian soldiers. On 6 February, Boko Haram attacked Bosso and Diffa in Niger. On 15 February, a suicide bombing occurred in Damaturu. On 17 February, the Nigerian military retook Monguno in a coordinated air and ground assault. On 22 February, a suicide bombing occurred in Potiskum. On 24 February, suicide bombings occurred in Potiskum and Kano. On 2 March, the Nigerian Armed Forces defeated Boko Haram in the Battle of Konduga.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: On 7 March, Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) via an audio message posted on the organisation's Twitter account. Nigerian Army spokesperson Sami Usman Kukasheka said the pledge was a sign of weakness and that Shekau was like a "drowning man". That same day, five suicide bomb blasts left 54 dead and 143 wounded. On 12 March, ISIL's spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani released an audiotape in which he welcomed the pledge of allegiance, and described it as an expansion of the group's caliphate to West Africa.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: Following its declaration of loyalty to ISIL, Boko Haram was designated as the group's "West Africa Province" (Islamic State West Africa Province, or ISWAP) while Shekau was appointed as its first vali (governor). Furthermore, ISIL started to support Boko Haram, but also began to interfere in its internal matters. For example, ISIL's central leadership attempted to reduce Boko Haram's brutality toward civilians and internal critics, as Shekau's ideology was "too extreme even for the Islamic State".


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: On 24 March, residents of Damasak, Borno, said that Boko Haram had taken more than 400 women and children from the town as they fled from coalition forces who retook the area and found a mass grave of Boko Haram victims. On 27 March, the Nigerian army captured Gwoza, which was believed to be the location of Boko Haram headquarters. On election day, 28 March, Boko Haram extremists killed 41 people, including a legislator, to discourage hundreds from voting.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: In March, Boko Haram lost control of the Borno towns of Bama and Gwoza (believed to be their headquarters) to the Nigerian Army. The Nigerian authorities said that they had taken back 11 of the 14 districts previously controlled by Boko Haram. In April, four Boko Haram camps in the Sambisa Forest were overrun by the Nigerian military who freed nearly 300 females. Boko Haram forces were believed to have retreated to the Mandara Mountains, along the Cameroon–Nigeria border. On 16 March, the Nigerian Army said that it had recaptured Bama. On 27 March, the day before the Nigerian presidential election, the Nigerian Army announced that it had recaptured the town of Gwoza from Boko Haram.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: By April, the Nigerian military was reported to have retaken most of the areas previously controlled by Boko Haram in Northeastern Nigeria, except for Sambisa Forest in Borno.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: In May, the Nigerian military announced that they had released about 700 women from camps in Sambisa Forest.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: On 12 July, two female suicide bombers wearing burqas killed 13 people in Fotokol. In response, the governor of Cameroon's Far North banned the Islamic veil and burqa.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: In August, it was reported that over a thousand deaths had occurred since the inauguration of the new administration.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: On 28 October, it was announced that Nigerian troops had rescued 338 people from Boko Haram near the group's Sambisa Forest stronghold. Of those rescued, 192 were children and 138 were women.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: In December, Muhammadu Buhari, the President of Nigeria, claimed that Boko Haram was "technically defeated" and it was reported that 1,000 women had been rescued from Boko Haram in January 2016. On 5 December, four female suicide bombers attacked a market on the Chadian side of Lake Chad. On 28 December, female suicide bombers killed over 55 people in Madagali in Adamawa and Maiduguri.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: In early October 2015, the United States military deployed 300 troops to Cameroon, with the approval of the Cameroonian government, with the primary mission of providing intelligence support to local forces, and conducting reconnaissance flights.


title: Boko Haram insurgency

text: The troops also oversaw a program to transfer American military vehicles to the Cameroonian Army to aid in their fight against Islamist militants.