Japan Press Weekly

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2019 January 30 - February 5 [POLITICS]

Abe turns his back on measures to eliminate workplace harassment

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Kira Yoshiko on January 29 at a House of Councilors plenary meeting demanded effective government measures to eliminate sexual harassment and other forms of workplace harassment such as “power harassment”, but Prime Minister Abe Shinzo showed reluctance to tackle the issue.

Kira underscored the need for an explicit legal ban on harassment which has been strongly called for by trade unions, women’s groups, and humanitarian organizations in Japan. Turning a deaf ear to Kira, Abe just said, “It will require careful consideration,” in defiance of the fact that the lack of government measures in Japan constitutes a big obstacle for efforts to wipe out workplace harassment and assist victims. Japan is the only Group of Seven nation which has yet to legislate laws against sexual harassment.

Citing that the International Labour Organization (ILO) in this year’s general meeting is set to adopt a treaty aimed at protecting workers from violence and harassment in the world of work, Kira said that Japan should ratify the treaty. Abe unenthusiastically replied that the government will decide its position after examining the treaty’s text. In last year’s ILO general meeting, Japan did not support the position that the anti-harassment treaty should be binding, attracting criticism from the international community.

JCP lawmakers’ task force on the workplace harassment issue last month made representations to the government and demanded a legal ban and other necessary measures to eradicate such misconduct.

Past related articles:
> Don't lag behind the world in addressing workplace harassment [January 7, 2019]
> JCP demands effective and enforceable law to eradicate workplace harassment [December 18, 2018]