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Time of India
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Israel & US Ally ‘HUMILIATES' Netanyahu For ‘DRAGGING' Gaza War; 1000s Throng Morocco Streets
Tens of thousands of Moroccans flood Rabat's streets, demanding justice for Gaza and calling for the end of Morocco's normalization with Israel. United across ideological lines, protesters decry the humanitarian crisis, urging immediate aid flow and condemning continued violence. The rare coalition of Islamists and left-wing groups signals growing national outrage as the war in Gaza enters its 22nd month.#MoroccoProtests #FreePalestine #GazaCrisis #NoToNormalization #RabatMarch #JusticeForGaza #PalestineSolidarity #EndTheSiege #GazaUnderFire #HumanRightsNow Read More
Asahi Shimbun
11-06-2025
- Asahi Shimbun
EDITORIAL: Diversity the key in media firms to combating sexual abuse
Kazuko Ito, center, vice president of Human Rights Now, and other organization officials speak at a news conference. (Ryuichi Kitano) With the attention focused on repeated cases of sexual abuse in mass media companies, many victims with scars from the past may be blaming themselves for not raising their voices when the incidents occurred. These victims also may be still having doubts as to whether anyone would have come to their assistance even if they had said something. In the wake of the abuse uncovered at Fuji Television Network Inc., Human Rights Now (HRN), a Tokyo-based nongovernmental organization, issued in late May the results of its own investigation into how Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) and the major commercial TV networks have dealt with the issue. The revelations about sexual abuse by the late Johnny Kitagawa served as the catalyst to widely spread recognition that sexual abuse in media-related companies was a human rights issue. When the U.N. Working Group on Business and Human Rights visited Japan in 2023 to look into the situation here, it issued a report criticizing media companies for not fulfilling their responsibility to deal with human rights risks. That led major TV networks to begin compiling human rights guidelines. But the effectiveness of those guidelines cannot be called sufficient. The HRN report revealed a lack of specific measures and transparency regarding who handles sexual abuse cases that arise and how that information is shared in order to help the victim. To not create more victims who must suffer, there will be a need for each and every individual working in the media to squarely face up to the fact that sexual abuse is a human rights issue. In particular, company management, upon recognizing this as a structural problem of the entire industry, must expediently decide on specific measures to prevent sexual abuse and help victims. It has been pointed out that at the root of the problem is the homogeneity that exists within the corporate decision-making level. That has also been pointed out by the U.N. working group as well as the third-party committee that looked specifically at the situation at Fuji TV. For many Japanese media companies, their core operations target the domestic market. There are few opportunities to seek out a sense of values matching international standards in such areas as working conditions that respect the individual and employing a diverse staff. That has led to a trend toward greater homogeneity. In any organization where people with similar backgrounds and experiences gather, it will be difficult for those at the top to realize sexual abuse has occurred and such an organization internalizes the risk of making light of diverse opinions. In May, the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association issued a statement saying it would compile proposals to reform the industry's male-dominated structure as one way of correcting the current situation. The association must move forward with that action in a certain manner. There are also many similar structural problems inherent in the newspaper industry as well so we must also reflect on the matter. Media companies can influence society through their reporting and programs. It has been said that in the background to the problems at Fuji TV was the thinking that some sacrifice was unavoidable in order to produce interesting programs. In the same way, newspaper companies also cannot deny allowing gender inequality and long working hours by using as an excuse the goal of providing good reporting. Organizations without diversity lack the imagination to think about those in various situations and the works and articles created could unintentionally hurt some people. If we do not face up to the issue now, we will be unable to respond to both the courage of those who do raise their voices as well as the chagrin of those who are unable to do so. --The Asahi Shimbun, June 11
