Japan Press Weekly

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2022 December 21 - 2023 January 10 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Let us make 2023 a year of advancing toward a gender-equal society

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

In Japan, the growing swell of grassroots movements seeking to realize a gender-equal society has exerted a significant influence on politics and on society.

This is shown by the fact that a new system obliging each company to make public their wage differences between male and female employees was introduced last year. This system is intended to open the way to eliminate gender wage gaps.

The government has been negative about gender pay disclosures because it in 1999 allowed companies to exclude from their annual securities reports the difference in amounts paid to male and female employees.

The Japanese Communist Party, in collaboration with public efforts outside the Diet, has repeatedly urged the government to implement measures to require companies to disclose gender pay gaps among their employees. In January 2022, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in response to the JCP interpellation expressed his intent to consider taking concrete measures.

In May 2022, a new law aimed at supporting women suffering from sexual abuse, domestic violence, and/or poverty was enacted. This resulted from many years of efforts made by people working to support vulnerable women.

The Cabinet Office in June of the same year released the results of a survey regarding sexual violence against young people, the government’s first large-scale survey on this matter. It also decided to establish a package of measures to eradicate the occurrence of sexual molestation. In the previous year, the JCP in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election and the general election promised to achieve a goal of zero victims of molestation or groping and obtained significant support mainly from younger generations, which has some influence on the government.

The main reason for the slow progress on gender equality in Japan is that the business circles and large corporations prioritize their economic interests over gender equality and that conservative forces such as Liberal Democratic Party politicians stick to the old-fashioned, patriarchal family values and misogynistic ideology.

The JCP, as a political party declaring support for the creation of a gender-equal society in its party program, will work hard to make 2023 a year of advancing toward a society which respects peace and human rights.

Past related articles:
> Cross-party Dietmembers demand better system to support vulnerable women [May 27, 2022]
> As demanded by JCP, gov’t will oblige companies to disclose gender gap in wages [May 22, 2022]
> Eradication of molesters and gropers is a political responsibility [October 17, 2021]