Japan Press Weekly

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2015 January 28 - February 3 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Majority of local assemblywomen experience discrimination

It came to light that more than half of local assemblywomen in Japan have experienced feelings of being discriminated against due to their sex both inside and outside the assembly.

The New Japan Women’s Association (Shinfujin) on January 30 held a press conference in Tokyo and released the results obtained in its survey from 964 out of 3,826 women local assemblypersons of the Japanese Communist Party, independent, Komei, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Party of Japan, the Social Democratic Party, and the Japan Innovation Party.

According to the data, 54.1% of respondents answered that they have felt discriminated against or felt insulted due to their sex. Of them, 61% said this happened during assembly sessions and 34.6% said away from work.

The most prominent form of discrimination they experienced was remarks or acts on the basis of a stereotyped perception of gender roles (60.8%). Answers in the free-answer question included “I was told to get married and have a child”, “I was called ‘a tax-thief’ because of my absence from the assembly around the time of giving childbirth”, and “Women assemblypersons are barred from chairman-initiated decision-making discussions.”

Sexual harassment cases were also reported (22.3%) such as being touched on the bottom or breasts. Some women said that they still suffer from the trauma.

Shinfujin Chair Kasai Kimiyo said, “The survey results show that gender discrimination is posing an obstacle for women to fully participate in politics and for assemblywomen to play an active role in politics. Our organization will compile the results in a brochure and will use it to urge local governments to raise gender-based discrimination awareness and to comply with the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. We will work starting at the local level to make a difference.”

Past related articles:
> Japan falling far behind in gender equality [November 23, 2014]
> Japan’s gender equality ranks low in the world [March 8, 2014]