Politics

Japan recognizes need to review work culture on Women’s Day

Tokyo, Mar 8 (EFE).- Japan said Wednesday it recognized, on the occasion of the celebration of International Women’s Day, the need to review its culture and work environment, given the country’s poor international rankings for equality.

Japanese Government Spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno appeared at his daily press conference with a bouquet of mimosas on the lapel of his jacket, with the aim of serving “as a symbol so that more people are interested” in this commemoration.

Matsuno reacted to the publication in previous hours of the index prepared by the British magazine The Economist on the presence and influence of women in the labor force, in which Japan occupies the penultimate position, only above South Korea.

Women in these countries “still have to choose between having a family or a career,” read the publication, which used elements such as the wage gap, education and participation in the labor market in its evaluation.

Women in Japan are still the country’s main component of temporary work. Although the employment situation for women has improved in recent years, Matsuno said to become mothers “many stop working with a fixed contract, so there is still a long way to go” to change this trend.

“Even today, the majority of housework and childcare tasks fall on women, and there are problems such as the habit of working long hours and a conservative awareness of gender and the division of tasks” in couples, the spokesman said.

He said the current administration seeks to build a society “that eliminates the salary difference between genders and that promotes women” in managerial and responsible positions, “while promoting that men take paternity leave and we fix the conditions that allow reconciliation.”

Japan ranks 104 out of 190 in the latest World Bank report on gender disparity, among other factors due to the lack of laws that require equal pay or legislation that penalizes sexual harassment in the workplace.

Although in recent years International Women’s Day has had less follow-up than in other countries, several demonstrations were organized for Wednesday throughout the country.

In Tokyo, under the slogan “against discrimination and gender violence,” the Women’s March Tokyo was convened for 6pm (9:00 GMT), starting in front of the United Nations University in the Shibuya district. EFE

mra-yk/lds

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