Women running for office are harassed

Bullying and harassment of women are rampant in Japanese politics

• Shinzo Abe promised to empower women in politics, but nothing has changed.

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Mari Yasuda has become fearful of entering her social media accounts, while this month a TV show called the candidate a "person to watch" during Japan's general election campaign.

Her anonymous reporters made no secret of their belief that, as a woman, she should not run for Parliament at all.

"They accuse me of having an affair with strong men to move forward," Yasuda says. "I also receive offensive comments in phone calls."

The young Japanese woman ran for a seat in Hyogo Prefecture for the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

"I receive emails from men commenting on my appearance or asking for a date," Yasuda added.

Sexual harassment has become a daily reality for women running for political office, in Japan, where women's participation in politics is among the lowest in the world.

Although diversity and social problems are addressed in the public debate, the country's politics have been immune to change, according to Yasuda.

The problem is in politics

"There are many areas of Japanese life in which women are underrepresented and feel unable to express themselves, but the problem is particularly prevalent in politics," she says.

Despite repeated promises by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his nine years in office to create a society in which "women shine", the House of Representatives elections, on October 31, will heighten fears that these distinctions are being cemented.

While the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is expected to win, broadly, albeit with a low majority;

The powerful council will be dominated by men, as it has always been.

monopolizing positions

Of the 1,051 candidates, only 186, or less than 18%, are women, despite the introduction in 2018 of a gender equality law that encourages parties to select similar numbers of male and female candidates.

This is slightly lower than in the previous elections in 2017.

“It's as if the men became deputies by birth,” says Yasuda, who once campaigned alone, but now with two of her colleagues.

The Japanese politician continues, “If ordinary people feel that politics is more relevant to their daily lives, then it will be normal for more women to be elected, but most people feel distant from politicians, as if politics is something for (special) people.

In the case of Japan, middle-aged and older men.”

bullying

Yoshiko Maeda, who has served as a member of the Western Tokyo Council since 2015, says sex discrimination is not limited to social media.

As a member of the Alliance of Elected Women in Japan, Maeda says she has received reports from female politicians from across the country of harassment from male colleagues, ranging from harassment during debates to constant pressure to resign. “It's simply bullying," she says.

Local councils with just one or a few elected women can be particularly intimidating, says Maeda, who received a string of online abuse when the coalition called for a virtual puppet, who was used to promote bike safety among schoolchildren. , in a town near Tokyo.

Maeda says the atmosphere in the boardrooms, and the well-documented accounts of sexual harassment targeting female politicians and candidates, are sure to deter other women from running for office and taking on responsibilities, although she notes that she has not personally faced the indignities of being a woman in the city. which it represents.

Even those who wish to engage in politics often give up the idea due to opposition from their family members.

There are still many obstacles to women becoming politicians.

Earlier this year, the Cabinet Office revealed that female politicians and candidates face "rampant" sexual harassment, including inappropriate touching and verbal insinuations by male voters.

Of the 1,247 local assembly members surveyed, 57.6% said they had been sexually harassed by voters, supporters, or other council members.

Many said they were targeted with sexually explicit language, or insults based on gender.

Harassment aside, the drop in the number of female candidates in this month's election is evidence that Japan has failed to address structural barriers to electing more women to parliament, according to Sophia University political science professor in Tokyo, Mari Miura.

“The incumbent MPs have a huge advantage in the Japanese elections, and as long as the LDP is by far the largest party, there will be little change in the composition of the parliamentary structure,” says Miura, and that only happens when a real party is in opposition.

poor performance

The Liberal Democratic Party, which fielded 33 women out of 336 candidates in the October 31 elections, has not lost the House of Representatives elections since 2009, and has ruled almost uninterruptedly since the 1950s.

The result is a male-dominated parliament, many of whom, including the current prime minister, Fumio Kishida, are second- or third-generation politicians.

“If an elected person wants to stay in office, he can get priority to run in the next elections,” Minister for Gender Equality Seiko Noda said recently. ».

Japan shows a poor performance in international comparisons for the representation of women, as it ranked 165 out of 190 countries;

Women made up only 9.9% of members of the House of Representatives, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The picture is no different in local politics, as just over 30% of city and village councils do not have elected women politicians, according to 2019 figures.

“In many cases, the only way a woman can win the support of a major party is to bypass the heads of the prefectural parties responsible for the selection process and use personal networks to appeal to the powerful men of the party,” Miura says. Remove structural barriers to running for office.

Unless you do that, no prospects for change can be seen in the near future.”

In turn, the new prime minister, who has promised to redistribute wealth to Japan's struggling middle class, has appointed three women to his 20-member cabinet, and is opposing calls to allow husbands to use separate surnames and make adjustments to marriage traditions.

“Japanese society is changing,” Miura says, citing the growing awareness among young people of issues such as the climate emergency and gender inequality, “but Japanese politics has stayed the same.”

The harassment aside, the drop in the number of women candidates in this month's elections is evidence that Japan has failed to address the structural impediments to electing more women to parliament.

There are many areas of Japanese life in which women are underrepresented and feel unable to express themselves, but the problem is particularly prevalent in politics.

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1,247 women in local councils were surveyed, and more than half of them said they had experienced sexual harassment.

• Harassment has become a daily reality for women running for political office in Japan.

• Japan shows a poor performance for women's representation, ranking 165 out of 190 countries.

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