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Cabinet Office releases video of harassment against local politicians

thomas

Unswerving cyclist
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14 Mar 2002
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Japan's Cabinet Office released a video on 12 April depicting the harassment politicians face when running for seats in local elections. The scenes in the video reflect actual events.

A 29-year-old woman decides to run for a seat in a local assembly after doing volunteer help in child rearing and nursing care, only to be victimized by an abusive constituent and a heavyweight politician. She is hospitalized after being exhausted physically and mentally. [...] "The video is not only for assembly members; it is for everyone to watch," said Seiko Noda, the state minister in charge of gender equality, at a news conference. During her campaign, the video's protagonist has her back rubbed by a man in her constituency. The man also asks her to give him her cellphone number "in return for my vote." After the woman is elected, a politician aged 70 and known as the "boss of the assembly," says, "I envy you because women can win elections if they are young and good-looking." She is also forced to sing a duet with him at a bar with his arm around her shoulders.




Greater participation of women in policy and policy-making processes is crucial for bringing diversity and vitality to society and realising a society in which all people can live comfortably. Efforts to prevent harassment in the political field are an urgent issue in promoting gender equality in the political field. As part of efforts to promote gender equality in the political field, training materials for the prevention of harassment in the political field have been published. The material is based on 1,324 actual cases of harassment collected from local council members across the country.

00:00 Introduction
03:00 Case 1: Sexual and power harassment from constituents
08:04 Case 2: Sexual and power harassment from councillors
11:19 Case 3: Sexual harassment from legislators
13:31 Case 4: Power harassment and sexual harassment from a Member of Parliament
20:29 Case 5: Power harassment from constituents
23:44 Case 6: Maternity harassment from councillor
26:55 Case 7: Power harassment from a Member of Parliament
31:00 Epilogue
 
This needs to be a weekly serial, everywhere. There is no shortage of horror stories, and a show like this might help people identify various forms of harassment, and hold people accountable for their behavior. Imagine the conversation around the water cooler if everyone gets deja vu from last night's show.
 
Of course, these deplorable cases of harassment are not restricted to Japan. However, one can only imagine the sheer number of incidents when the Cabinet Office feels compelled to release such a video.
 
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