March 6, 2025

Seeking to realize international-standards in regard to gender equality, the Japanese Communist Party Gender Equality Commission and the JCP Dietmembers’ group on March 5 submitted to the Cabinet Office a written request demanding that the government reflect civil society’s demands and a recommendation report of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in a new basic plan for gender equality the government will compile by the end of this year.

JCP Vice Chair Kurabayashi Akiko who is in charge of the gender equality commission, JCP Policy Commission Chair Yamazoe Taku, JCP members of the House of Councilors Inoue Satoshi, Kami Tomoko, and Nihi Sohei, and JCP member of the House of Representatives Horikawa Akiko took part in this action.

Kurabayashi said, “This year marks 40 years since Japan ratified the UN convention. The government should integrate the UN committee’s recommendations in its basic plan.” An official of the Cabinet Office in reply said, “We will compile a new basic plan by taking into account Dietmembers’ views.”

The CEDAW report which was released last autumn, as shown by a recommendation for the introduction of a selective dual surname system, called on Japan to reduce gender inequalities.

Calling for a drastic improvement in government measures, the JCP in its document urged the government to thoroughly check the current status of gender equality in Japan and government policies in the light of the CEDAW report. In an urgent proposal, the JCP appealed for the need to introduce a selective surname system, legalize same sex marriage, and ratify the optional protocol to the CEDAW Convention during the current Diest session.

The JCP in the written request demanded that the government incorporate in its new basic plan eight items, including promoting gender equality in employment by such means as eliminating the gender wage gap, upholding 50:50 gender parity and promoting women’s participation in politics as well as in policy- and decision-making processes, guaranteeing women’s reproductive and health rights, strengthening government measures to eradicate gender-based violations and provide relief to victims, and fundamentally improving government actions to tackle women’s poverty.