  Steady steps toward true gender equality -- Akahata editorial, January 4This year is the 20th anniversary of Japan's ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The international community in the 20th century achieved progress in which women's suffrage was established in many countries. The treaty adopted by the United Nations in 1979 to abolish discrimination against women offers guidelines for actually achieving women's equal rights. World's common view In Japan, efforts to eliminate discrimination against women have been made on the basis of the U.N. Convention. Women workers at Nomura Securities and at Sumitomo Electric Industries won an out-of-court settlement in which their claims for promotion were accepted thanks to the U.N. Convention and other international arrangements as well as the movement in Japan and abroad calling for the discrimination to be eliminated. In the settlement of Sumitomo Electric Industries lawsuit, the deposition stated that achieving equality between men and women has already become common understanding in the world and that all women have the right to benefit from the results of reforms. It goes against social progress if the court approves the remnants of discrimination arising from the past social understanding that women should quit their jobs when they marry or bear children. The 1999 law on equal opportunity prohibited discrimination in positioning and promotion. The court has concluded that preceding practices of discrimination must be redressed even if they took place before 1999 so that all women enjoy the results of the convention and the equal opportunity law. The movement for gender equality is making steady progress, though not as fast as hoped for. It is important to note that these women have tried to bring their cases to the world. For example, after filing the lawsuit ten years ago against Sumitomo Metal Industries for discrimination against them, women workers, who are expecting to hear the ruling in March, have their own website in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean. Trying to justify discrimination, the company had concealed the wage logbook for male workers. The discrimination and cover-up completely contradicts the principle of compliance that the company is proclaiming. Women workers have denounced the company malpractices to the world. The need for redressing discrimination against women does not concern corporate employees alone. We are in an age that calls for the problem to be settled as a social responsibility. Nomura Securities in its out-of-court settlement over discrimination against women promised to abide by the corporate ethical codes, respect human rights, and develop and maintain a worker-friendly environment free from discrimination. Large corporations doing business around the world have the duty to take the lead in eliminating discrimination against women as universal common sense. The discrimination that women in Japan actually face is exceptionally serious in the world, and it is under criticism from the international community. Falling behind world standards According to the United Nations Development Program's international comparison of indices for women's power in politics and economies, Japan ranks 44th among 70 countries, falling behind even many developing countries. It is because the ratio of women's wages to men's and the percentages of women in managerial positions and women members of parliament is still very low (Government "White Paper on Participatory Equality"). The U.N. Convention explicitly states that "the upbringing of children requires a sharing of responsibility between men and women and society as a whole" and that "a change in the traditional role of men as well as the role of women in society and in the family is needed to achieve full equality between men and women." The need now is to put into practice the convention's spirit so that women can fully utilize their strength. (end) |