Japan Press Weekly

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2019 December 18 - 24 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Slow progress on women’s political empowerment widens Japan’s gender gap: Koike

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira on December 17 at a press conference in the Diet building commented on the latest global gender gap report from the World Economic Forum.

Citing that Japan ranked 144th in terms of political empowerment of women, Koike said that this is because the government fails to take a stance to promote affirmative action, such as introducing a measure to increase the number of female members in the Cabinet and Diet. He added that such a stance caused a big drop in Japan’s ranking in the report.

In the annual global gender equality ranking list, Japan slipped from the previous year’s 110th to 121st, the lowest ranking that the nation has ever received.

Pointing out that amid the global movement for gender equality, Japan shows reluctance to move in this direction, Koike said that this is a fundamental problem that the Japanese society is facing, and added, “The JCP will make an all-out effort to work for a solution.”

Regarding the underlying cause of gender inequality in Japan, Koike said that present-day Japan still remains subject to patriarchal values and behavior and a political opinion that places the state above the individual.

Koike also pointed out that the business circles take a profit-first stance and refuse to tackle the gender gap issue as shown in their opposition to the government plan to introduce penalties in its measures to prevent workplace harassment. Koike said that the JCP will increase its efforts in order to overcome barriers to the promotion of gender equality.

Past related articles:
> Workplace gender gap hinders women workers from continuing careers [June 21, 2019]
> Law for gender equality in politics enacted [May 30, 2018]