TOKYO: A Japanese cabinet minister called on Friday for a law to strengthen relief and protection for victims of sexual harassment, but stopped short of…
TOKYO: A Japanese cabinet minister called on Friday for a law to strengthen relief and protection for victims of sexual harassment, but stopped short of urging legal changes to make such acts a crime.
Victims of sexual harassment in Japan have traditionally been reluctant to speak out for fear of being blamed, but heated debate and protests have followed the resignation last month of a top finance bureaucrat over accusations in a weekly magazine. The official, Junichi Fukuda, denied that he had sexually harassed several female reporters, but the ministry later acknowledged he had sexually harassed a reporter and docked his pay by 20 percent for six months.
« What is needed legally is protection and relief for victims, » said Internal Affairs Minister Seiko Noda, who is one of only two women in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet and often seen as a longshot contender to succeed him.
« Because they are not protected, women are afraid to speak out, » Noda, who holds the portfolio for women’s empowerment, told Reuters in an interview.
A legal revision in 1997 required Japanese employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace but it does not prescribe penalties, and similar rules apply to civil servants.
