October 2, 2021

In the run-up to the general election which will take place this autumn, Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission Chair Tamura Tomoko at a press conference held on October 1 in the Diet building released the party's policies for a gender-equal Japan.

Saying, "Present-day Japanese society is hungry for a government which seriously works on promoting gender equality, not talk about 'gender equality' or 'respect for diversity'," Tamura presented an outline of the policies as follows:

The JCP will work to:
- advance workplace gender equality such as correction of the wage gap between women and men;
- implement a selective dual surname system for married couples, enact an LGBTQ equality law, and establish a society which respects diversity;
- eradicate all forms of violence, including sexual molestation;
- adopt policies from the perspective of women's sexual and reproductive health and rights;
- increase the number of women in decision-making processes, and stand firm on gender equality in all policies.

Tamura pointed out that the difference in lifetime wages between women and men in Japan is 100 million yen, and said, "This clearly shows how low women's position is in the economy and society. Because of the lower wages, even for the same work, many women have difficulty in achieving self-reliance."

Tamura said that the reason why Japan lags far behind the world in terms of gender equality is that the Japanese government led by the Liberal Democratic Party with its outdated values praises prewar patriarchy and meets the needs of the business circles using female workers as cheap labor. She added, "The JCP will make an all-out effort in the coming general election in order to achieve a clean break from the LDP government."