Latest news with #genderequality
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Japan's ‘Womenomics' Push Ages Terribly As Economy Struggles
Pedestrians cross a road in Tokyo, Japan. Noriko Hayashi/Bloomberg Sometimes, it's the pressing election issues that no one is talking about that matter most. Especially when the omission is by design — like the role of women in Japan's economy. I'm as bummed as anyone to have to point this out 12-plus years on since the Liberal Democratic Party returned to power pledging to prioritize gender equality. What was it that then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised to do for half of Japan's population? Make them 'shine.' In December 2012, the late Abe propelled the LDP back to power with a bold-sounding revival plan. Never mind that it was merely a list of things Japan should've done years earlier. It's better to be late to cut bureaucracy, modernize labor markets, increase productivity and reanimate Japan's innovative animal spirits than never to act. A key strategy to achieve those last two goals was empowering women. All available research shows that nations and companies that best utilize their female workforces are the most vibrant, efficient and prosperous. Any report from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank or investment banks like Goldman Sachs will attest to that. It's no coincidence that the LDP called their plan 'womenomics.' The word is believed to have been coined by then-Goldman Sachs economist Kathy Matsui, whose gender research made her a local celebrity. Abe cited her work when he pledged to increase the role of women in business and politics. Sadly, though, such talk ended up being a shiny object. In 2012, Japan ranked 101st in the World Economic Forum's gender equality index. Today, it's 118th out of 148 countries, a 17-place backslide. And Sunday's election offers its own metric on the dimming hopes for gender parity in the third-biggest economy. In upper house elections, women make up fewer than 30% of candidates. As Jiji Press reported earlier this month, of the 522 people who initially filed candidacies, just 152 were women, or 29.1%. This is shy of the LDP's 35% target for female lawmakers. In fact, in terms of women holding political office, Japan trails Saudi Arabia by 17 places, according to the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union. Why is Japan failing to make such an obvious fix to its underperforming economy? After all, Goldman Sachs has long argued, Japan's gross domestic product would increase by as much as 15% if the female labor participation matched that of men. One reason for the foot-dragging is that the power with Japan's patriarchy is strong. Economic history knows few examples of those with power giving it up willingly. Typically, change is demanded by the masses in ways the ruling class can't ignore. And virtually no one thinks the LDP, which has led Japan with only two brief interruptions since 1955, is going to lose all power on Sunday. Another problem is that Tokyo establishment is much better at treating the symptoms of a problem than addressing it. Abe was far from the first modern leader to latch onto gender disparities as an election issue. Back in the early 2000s, then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi also made a play for fielding more female candidates. But Abe, like Koizumi before him, mostly prodded the Bank of Japan to cut rates to, or near, zero and leave them there indefinitely. As all that free money boosted the economy, there was less urgency to do the hard work of upending the status quo. Yet the last dozen years have been particularly frustrating. The LDP had broad-based public support to level playing fields and smash glass ceilings. And then it just pivoted to other pursuits, leaving Japan quite the gender-equality outlier in Group of Seven circles. This has also been a lost period of lawmakers appearing to understand that the lack of progress plays a role in so many of Japan's biggest challenges. Take Japan's demographic trajectory, one that worries global debt investors wary of the developed world's biggest debt burden. A key reason Japan's birth rate falls year after year to new record lows is Japan Inc.'s poor track record on work-life-balance policies. This has many women delaying childbirth. Then there's the 'informalization' boom that relegates more and more jobs to 'non-regular' status. These gigs pay less, offer less upward mobility and come with less job security. And the vast majority of them go to women. What does Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba have to say about all this? Not much. How about new ideas to empower half of Japan's 124 million people? Crickets. In fact, one of the most vital repairs Japan needs this election season is among the last things anyone wants to talk about.
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
Sexual harassment widespread at work
A woman who was sexually harassed as a teenager in her supermarket job said management dismissed it as "harmless" Stevens said a male colleague's unwanted touching made her feel "really uncomfortable" as "we weren't friends."A recent Censuswide survey found almost half of workers in Wales interviewed have experienced sexual harassment at a union representative for the independent trade union for transport and travel industries TSSA, Ms Stevens, stressed the need for better education to help people understand that even so-called "jokes" can cause harm. Commissioned by TUC Cymru, the body for trade unions in Wales, the survey gathered responses from 2,000 employees across the country. It found that 43% of men and 48% of women had experienced sexual harassment in the highest rate was recorded in the architecture, engineering, and construction industries, where 66% of respondents reported those who had experienced harassment, around half did not report in ten said this was because they did not trust their employer to believe them. Ms Stevens said the man would often put his arm around her "when there just wasn't any need to.""I asked him to stop, and he did for a while - but then he'd start again," she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast."I kept asking, but he kept crossing the boundary."Although she reported his behaviour to management, she said they "just didn't particularly care", dismissing it as the man "just being friendly".Regardless of his intent, Ms Stevens said it made her feel uncomfortable and "really unsupported"."He crossed my boundaries, and I just felt really uncared for," she Stevens eventually changed departments to "just to get myself out of the situation at the time". "You're so young, you're naïve," she said."You feel embarrassed, you don't really want to stand up for yourself and call people out on it because you don't want to make a fuss." Under the Worker Protection Act, employers must discipline or hold accountable those who are found guilty of sexual law, which was introduced in October 2024, covers harassment on social media as well as that by customers, clients, service users, or members of the also includes conduct in any event or situation related to work such as a Christmas party, client event, or messaging between the survey respondents, one in 10 said their workplace either had no formal sexual harassment policy or they were not informed of a policy in place. Ms Stevens, who is trained in the issue, said her own experiences have made her "even more passionate about ensuring everyone is safe at work at all times".She explained that many people do not realise their behaviour is inappropriate, but once it's pointed out, most stop - but she said repeated behaviour should be addressed more Stevens emphasised the importance of education and urged anyone affected to speak to their union rep, saying: "We're here, we will listen, and we will act." To raise awareness around support available to workers from unions around sexual harassment in the workplace, TUC Cymru has launched a campaign, called We'll Support organisation has also published a handbook to give union reps the information and resources they need to prevent sexual harassment in the Taj from TUC Cymru said "everyone deserves to feel safe at work" and that workplace sexual harassment "has to stop".She said the new campaign will empower union reps to be a "visible ally" for workers, hold employers accountable under the new Worker Protection Act, and "ultimately help reduce harassment in workplaces in Wales". What is sexual harassment? According to Wesh Women's Aid, sexual harassment is any unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature that may cause offense, distress, will intimidate or humiliate a examples are: making sexually degrading comments or gesturesbeing stared or leered atunwanted or inappropriate sexual jokes or propositionse-mails, social media or text messages with sexual contentunwelcome sexual advances and touching, forms of sexual assaultdisplaying sexually explicit pictures in a shared space, such as at work
France 24
4 days ago
- Business
- France 24
South Africa warns global turmoil threaten development goals
The blueprint, adopted by all United Nations member states in 2015, includes 17 targets on areas such as education, climate action and gender equality. But progress has been uneven and is at risk as the world faces growing uncertainty and mounting threats to multilateralism. South Africa is chairing the G20 group of nations until November 2025, a complex task that involves coordinating a broad and fractious membership that includes the United States, China, Russia, the European Union and the African Union. "While inflation is gradually moderating and financial conditions have started to stabilise in some regions, uncertainty continues to weigh heavily on global growth prospects," Pretoria's finance minister Enoch Godongwana told G20 finance chiefs and central bank governors. "Rising trade barriers, persistent global imbalances and new geopolitical risks are significant concerns," he said. These challenges, coupled with climate-related shocks, risk pushing the development targets "further out of reach", he added. The group has scrambled to respond to drastic policy shifts by its richest member, the United States, which has upended global trade rules since Donald Trump's return. Washington -- next in line for the G20 presidency -- has imposed tariffs on countries it labels "anti-American" and announced foreign aid cuts that are hammering development projects especially in Africa. 'Inclusive dialogue' US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is not attending the two-day meeting in the port city of Durban, with Washington instead represented by an undersecretary for international affairs. Bessent also skipped a similar meeting in February and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio snubbed a meeting for G20 foreign ministers. "We have a critical role to play in revitalising and strengthening multilateralism by fostering inclusive dialogue, reinforcing rules-based cooperation, and driving collective action on global challenges that no country can solve alone," said Godongwana. Germany said it was committed to the course, underscoring the importance of the bloc whose resolutions are non-binding in nature. "We as the federal government, are using all possibilities... to also discuss how, especially in these times of international upheavals and uncertainty, we can strengthen our partnerships within the multilateral world order," Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil told journalists. The G20 is made up of 19 nations and two regional organisations and accounts for more than 80 percent of the world's economic output.
CNN
4 days ago
- CNN
‘Even the person you report to can be a victim'. Femicide crisis in Kenya
CNN takes a look at gender-based violence in Kenya through the lens of female officers working at gender desks who themselves might be victims. With public trust in the police broken, it is ever more difficult for women to report harassment. This story is part of As Equals, CNN's ongoing series on gender inequality. For information about how the series is funded and more, check out our FAQs.
CNN
4 days ago
- CNN
‘Even the person you report to can be a victim'. Femicide crisis in Kenya
CNN takes a look at gender-based violence in Kenya through the lens of female officers working at gender desks who themselves might be victims. With public trust in the police broken, it is ever more difficult for women to report harassment. This story is part of As Equals, CNN's ongoing series on gender inequality. For information about how the series is funded and more, check out our FAQs.
