Unfilled rows brought to mind the large gaps in the crowd at her father’s inauguration in January
The US first family’s visit to Asia has got off to an inauspicious start, after Ivanka Trump shared her views on sexual harassment and women’s empowerment in front of a half-empty venue in Tokyo.
Donald Trump’s daughter – already a familiar face in Japan thanks to her modelling work and fashion empire – did not mention her father by name during her brief address to the World Assembly for Women on Friday, focusing instead on her work with the US administration to promote women’s role in the economy.
Officials reportedly said her speech was the most registered event of the three-day assembly, but that tight security had meant not everyone had been able to enter the hall before the doors were closed for the duration of the speeches by Abe and Trump.
However, the Guardian arrived at the hall 10 minutes before the event began and witnessed no long lines of people waiting to get in. Another attendee who entered as the doors were closing said just a handful of people were milling around outside.
Earlier this year, she was greeted with boos and hisses at the W20 summit in Berlin when, appearing on a panel with the German chancellor Angela Merkel, she referred to her father as a “tremendous champion of supporting families”.
On Friday in Tokyo, speaking in a reference to an avalanche of allegations of sexual harassment in the entertainment and political worlds, she said: “All too often our workplace culture fails to treat women with appropriate respect.
“This takes many forms, including harassment, which can never be tolerated.”
The comments also revived memories of Donald Trump ’s boast, in a leaked videotape that emerged during the presidential campaign, that he could get away with sexually assaulting women . “When you’re a star, they let you do it,” he said.
