STOP MULTIPLE FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION based on
Race, Ethnicity, Descent, Nationality and/or Disabilities, and
GENDER

Joint NGO Submission to
the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Womenthe 77th Pre-sessional Working Group for the
Preparation of LOIPR for Japan

prepared byForum on Minority Women - page 1
Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan (SMJ)
Japan Network Against Trafficking In Persons (JNATIP)- page 6

Disabled People's International (DPI)
Women's Network Japan - page 10
January 2020
contact: The International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR)
imadr@imadr.org

Multiple Forms of Discrimination Against Women from Buraku, Ainu,
Zainichi Korean and Migrant Communities
prepared by: Forum on Minority Women■ Title■ Q: Suggested question with a reference para number of the CEDAW COs (CEDAW/C/JPN/CO/7-8)■ Backgrounds: background information

Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation
Q 1. Has the Government of Japan considered an enactment of a comprehensive antidiscrimination legislation that prohibits multiple/intersectional forms of discrimination against
women belonging to various minority groups? - 13 (c)Backgrounds:
Japan has enacted new two acts on the elimination of hate speech i and on the promotion of eliminationof Buraku discriminationii in June and December 2016, respectively. Both acts focus on education andconsultation as means of addressing both human rights problems, while having no clauses of prohibitionof and sanction on discrimination. In addition, the two acts do not have any perspective ofintersectionality. The act to promote Ainu policies was enacted in 2019. It has a clause that prohibits
discrimination against the Ainu, but fails to have a sanction clause. It also has no perspective ofintersectionality. Therefore, these three new acts have little legal effectiveness in eliminating multiple
forms of discrimination against women of these communities.
The government conducted the foreign resident survey in 2016 for the first time, and published theresults in March 2017 iii. The survey aimed to identify how foreign residents face discrimination andprejudice in their daily life. Yet, the results did not have disaggregated data by sex. Despite repeatedrequests from the minority women groups, the Ministry of Justice has not accepted it for some technicalreasons. With no specific plan to do a same survey in future, we call for the additional efforts to bemade by the government to get disaggregated data based on the results of 2016 survey.
In 2017, the government conducted a human rights awareness survey with the general public. Questions
picked up in the survey were related women, children, Buraku, people with disabilities, the Ainu, foreign
residents, hate speech, etc. The government expressed that it would use results of the survey for its
human rights policies. Yet, it did not show what were found from the viewpoint of intersectionality.

Prohibition and Sanction of Hate Speech
Q 2. Has the Government of Japan adopted legislation to prohibit and sanction sexist speech and1

propaganda advocating racial superiority or hatred, including attacks on ethnic and otherminority women such as the Ainu, Buraku and Zainichi Korean women as well as migrant women?
- 21(d)Backgrounds:
As mentioned above 1, the current act does not prohibit or sanction hate speech. In the Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD/D/C/JPN/CO/10-11),
it was recommended to consider the amendment of the current act to include prohibition and sanction
clauses. The survey conducted by Apeuro Zainichi Korean Women Network in 2016 revealed thatabout 70% of 888 respondents felt anxiety about the prevalence of hate speech and unsafety of being a
Zainich Korean in Japan.
In 2017, the supreme court rejected the appeal of the defendant of the hate speech case brought by a
Zanichi Korean woman as a plaintiff, thus confirming the ruling of the high court stating that the caseconstituted an intersectional form of racial discrimination and discrimination against women. The
government should follow the judicial decision and improve the legislation to be effective. Due to no
prohibition on hate speech in the current act, we continue to see hate speech sexually humiliating and/or
encouraging violence against Korean women.
A Zainichi Korean woman was repeatedly attacked on the Internet information site by an anonymous
person with humiliating her as being a Korean and a woman. She brought the case to the court asking adeletion of all humiliating messages against her posted by the unknown person, but the district court
turned down her complaint in 2019. As of now, all messages have still been on the site.
In August 2019, a university professor said in the TV talk show, “Japanese boys should attack Korean
girls when they come to Japan,” in response to the incident of battery on a Japanese woman tourist on
the street of Seoul. Later, in response to many protests from the viewers, the program host just explainedthat the TV station did not recognize it as hate speech and that they would any way not allow any speechthat could encourage a crime.
In January 2020, an anonymous new year card with full of intimidation was sent to the municipal
community center located in the neighborhood where many Zainichi Koreans live. It contained messages
such as “Wipe out Zainichi Koreans on the earth! If find any alive, just kill them,” and “Notice of bombingof the community center,” apparently targeted at least a woman leader of the center and other residents
in the neighborhood. While the mayor of Kawasaki City where the community is located decisively
condemned the perpetrator and took immediate security measures, the national government has takenno action nor given any statement of condemnation.
Japan does not have any legal measures for victims of hate speech to remedy, leaving them with no way
but bringing a case to the court. However, a civil complaint usually imposes additional mental stress andpain on victims of racial and sexual hate speech and requires a lot of time and money to spend. Thus,
many of them have to compel themselves not to take action but to accept.

2

To propagate Buraku discrimination, a group called Tottori Loop disseminated the Buraku informationon the Internet showing the location and other details of Buraku neighborhoods throughout the country.
They also disseminated information about Buraku leaders and activists with their names, positions andaddresses (some cases) on their Internet site. The information has still been online. Women leaders aswell as residents of Buraku neighborhoods have been put in anxiety and unsafety being a possible targetof attack. The act to promote the elimination of Buraku discrimination does not prohibit any acts of
discrimination, and it does not provide any measures for remedy as well.

Participation in the Decision-making
Q 3: Does the Government of Japan provide any specific measures to promote participation ofminority women in the decision-making process? – 31(c)Backgrounds:
The government has not implemented the recommendation of the Committee under para 31(c) to takeany specific measures to encourage the participation of minority women in the decision-making process.
At the local level, with the efforts of Buraku Liberation League, a few Buraku women have been appointed
to be a member of a local council to deliberate their gender equal policies. With no representation ofminority women at the national level, problems that Buraku, Ainu, Zainichi Korean and migrant womenface in the areas of education, employment, health and violence are not understood and addressed
adequately by policy makers.
During the law making process towards the act for the promotion of Ainu policies, Ainu women
presented their demands to create a local council in the relevant local governments that makes Ainurelated policies and considers measures to be taken accordingly, and appoint Ainu representatives ascouncil member in such a number that make a majority of council while making a gender balance. Theirdemands were not taken in the new act after all.

Survey on Multiple Forms of Discrimination
Q 4: Has the Government of Japan conducted any survey to find actual conditions of minority
women and multiple forms of discrimination they face? If not, does it have any plan to do so? –35 (e)
Backgrounds:
We assume that the concept of multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination does not find its
presence in the government policies. We also assume that the government has not attempted to conduct
a survey to find situations of minority women to be taken into its consideration for policy making. We
see some social, economic and cultural statistics containing disaggregated data by sex, but not by
ethnicity, nationality, ability/disability, and etc. According to the analysis of the 2010 national census
made by Human Rights Association for Korean Residents in Japan, Zainichi Korean women marked ahigher percentage by 4.1 point in the total unemployment rate and by 7.8 point in the irregular3employment rate than other Japanese women. They also marked a higher percentage by 3.5 point and35.1 point than fellow Zainichi Korean men, respectively.
Training of Counselling Staff
Q 5: Are the counselling staff at the Women Human Rights Hotline as well as 14,000 Human Rights
Commissioners given the training program that facilitates their understanding of the multiple
form of discrimination and prejudice against Buraku, Ainu, Zainichi Korean and migrant women?
Q 6: Does the government provide a counselling service specialized in sexual crimes and stalking
activities involving women from minority communities?
Q 7: Are the counselling staff at the Spousal Violence Counselling and Support Center located in
278 different locations throughout the country given a training program to help them understandmultiple forms of discrimination against minority women and human rights abuses they suffer?
Backgrounds:
The survey conducted by Apeuro Zainichi Korean Women Network in 2016 revealed that about 30% of
888 respondents (Zainichi Korean women) did not go to the public counselling service when they
suffered discrimination based on ethnicity or gender. Those Buraku, Ainu or Zainichi Korean women
who went to the public counselling service tended to find themselves frustrated with the service they
were given because of lack of understanding of their difficult situations among counselling staff.
Furthermore, in case of domestic violence, women victims were likely to be given damage or humiliatedduring the counselling service due to little understanding of their situations among counselling staff.
As a result, women from minority communities find it very difficult to go to the public service.

Education – 33(d)Q 8: Does the government take any special measures to facilitate access to education of minority
women?
Q 9: Does the government provide any remedial measures to those Korean high school students
who have been denied to the access to the government’s high school tuition support program?
Backgrounds:
Due to the long suffering from prejudice and discrimination, Ainu women mark a quite low rate ofenrollment of high school and/or advanced education. Thus, it has caused them difficulties in livelihood,
employment and other aspects of their life.
Government of Japan has excluded only Korean High School students from the tuition support programthat started in 2010. In addition to students of Japanese high schools, those of other foreigner highschools have not been excluded from the program. As pointed out during the review process of Japanby the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on Economic, Social andCultural Rights, and the Committee on the Rights of Child, such an exclusion has constituted
discrimination against Zainichi Korean that needs to be rectified. It has given negative impacts not only4

to the affected Korean students in their academic activities, but also financial and mental difficulties andstress to their parents. A large number of Korean students have graduated the high school and gone to
the next stage of their life without receiving the support under the program. The government has nottaken any measures to remedy them.

The 5th Basic Plan for Gender Equality
Q 10: How does the government plan to include voices, opinions or suggestions of women fromBuraku, Ainu, Zainichi Korean and migrant communities as well as women with disabilities in thecourse of developing its 5th Basic Plan for Gender Equality?
Backgrounds:
According to the government’s announcement, the thematic working groups have already been launched
for the development of the 5th Basic Plan. The government will adopt the final plan by the end of
December 2020 after the public comments and hearings to be scheduled in autumn this year.

Forum on Minority Women consists of the Women Division of Buraku Liberation League, Ainu Women
Association, Apeuro Zainichi Korean Women Network and the International Movement Against All
Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR). For the past 20 years since 2000, these groups haveworked together for the common issue of the multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination at
national and international levels.

i

http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001199550.pdf

ii

https://imadr.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Act-on-the-Promotion-of-the-Elimination-of-Buraku-Discrimination-2.pdf
iii

http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001249011.pdf

5

MIGRANT WOMEN and TRAFFICKING in PERSONS
prepared by: Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan (SMJ)
Japan Network Against Trafficking In Persons (JNATIP)

Title：Violence Against Migrant Women
Suggested questions to be included (reference paragraph number of CEDAW/C/JPN/CO/7-8)
1. Are there any newly implemented measures that the government has taken in order to promote
proactive reporting of violence against migrant women and appropriate protection of such women? Has
the government conducted the research necessary on the reality of violence against minority women
including migrant ones for the implementation of such measures? (23(e))
2. Has the government reviewed the “procedures for revoking the residence status of spouses” under
Article 22-4 of the Immigration Control Act? (23(e))
Backgrounds
1. No new measures have been taken regarding violence against migrant women. Although the Act on
the Prevention of Spousal Violence and the Protection of Victims states that the human rights ofwomen should be respected, since no national minimum standard on specific policy measures has been
established, support measures for migrant women victims are left to local governments, so the efforts
still lag behind. First of all, it is necessary to conduct research on the reality of violence against
minority women including migrant ones, and to make the results public.
2. Many of the UN human rights treaty bodies have pointed out in a similar way that securing theresidence status of migrant women is vital for protecting them from domestic violence. CERD has
recommended time and again that the “procedures for revoking the residence status of spouses” under
the revised Immigration Control Act, in effect since 2012, should be carefully reviewed because theycause a great setback for the rights of migrant women who are DV victims and making it hard for themto escape from the violence, however the government has not yet followed the recommendation.
Submitted by: Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan (SMJ)

Trafficking in Persons
Questions3. What preventive measures does the government take against “forced repatriations” that are being
exercised despite the will of technical intern trainees? Do the measures taken completely exclude theaccepting organizations and the sending organizations? Why is forced repatriation not subject topunishment? (27(a))
4. Does the government grasp the reality of pregnant technical intern trainees or those who give birth?
They are forced to face decisions of either getting abortions or going home. Does the government
notify the accepting organizations and the trainees of various protection/support systems on
pregnancy and delivery? (27(a))
5. Has the government implemented measures to justifiably punish the coercive sexual exploitation still
exercised by the establishments that provide adult entertainment and produce pornographic films?
(27(b))

6

6. Has the government implemented viable measures to delete the pornographic images of forced
sexual exploitation once on the internet, to shut off the illegal streaming, and to halt the sales of such
videos? (27(b))
7. What measures does the government take to prevent human trafficking of foreign women before
they arrive in Japan? What kind of bilateral and/or multilateral cooperation and collaboration does it
implement or at least consider? (27(c))
8. What measures has the government taken to make the bilateral agreements with the sendingorganizations of technical intern trainees viable? Why does it not stop accepting trainees from thecountries whose governments have not yet signed, or are not compliant to, the Memorandum of
Cooperation? (27(c))
9. Regarding the onsite inspections of technical internship implementing organizations where various
cases of exploitation and human rights violation have been reported, has the government’s plan to“inspect all 50,000 organizations in 3 years” been executed as planned? (27(d))
10. Does the government grasp the activities of agents of technical intern trainees’ sendingorganizations deployed in Japan? Does the government establish punishment rules for the violation ofhuman rights caused by the sending organizations and their agents? (27(d))
11. Are the acts of exploitation that are done by means of “abuse of power or of a position ofvulnerability” or “giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having
control over another person” defined in the Trafficking in Persons Protocol justifiably punished?
(27(e))
12. Which ministry or agent of the government is supposed to identify labor trafficking victims?
(27(e))

Backgrounds
3. The threat of possible forced repatriation means that trainees put up with harsh and/or unlawfullabor and discourages them from claiming their rights. They are also heavily oppressed by their unfair
substantial debt prior to entry in Japan to cover deposit, penalty charges, and other costs. However,forced repatriation is not subject to penalty, so it is urgent to take effective measures against it.
The government has been trying, since September 2016, to confirm the trainees’ will with “Will
Confirmation Documents” when they leave the country before the end of their training period.
However, since the practice still continues, it is obvious that the document has not served as anadequate countermeasure. Since the forced repatriation is done by supervising organizations or
sending organizations, even the “prior notification system” does not function as an effective measure.
Furthermore, these organizations have also accumulated various skills to know how to discourage
trainees from claiming their trip home as being a forced repatriation.
Therefore, more careful procedures to confirm the will of those who leave Japan in the middle of theircontract term are necessary.
4. As of the end of 2018, out of 328,360 technical intern trainees present in Japan, 43.5% were womenand many of them work in the textile/apparel industry in which the highest number of misconduct has
been found. Also, regardless of industry, quite a few female trainees are victims of sexual harassment
and sexual violence. As for the issues of these pregnancies and deliveries that have emerged recently,
cases of being forced to face decisions of either getting abortions or going home never cease. The
government is delinquent in notifying the accepting organizations and technical intern trainees ofvarious protection/support systems for such trainees (i.e., labor laws and social security laws).

7

5. Regarding “intensifying monitoring and inspection programmes in order to prevent sexual
exploitation”, the government has not yet been able to take effective measures. The government claims
that they appropriately deal with the currently available published or videoed adult materials if they
fulfill the requirements for applying penalties and are then charged with criminal offense. However, in
reality, the perpetrators are very sophisticated and on the surface they pretend to have confirmed thevictims’ agreement. So it is hard to fulfill the requirement for penalties using the Penal Code or Child
Prostitution/Pornography Law. Thus, the cases would be charged as either a violation of Worker
Dispatching Law or a rather light violation of punitive laws, or even would be dropped.
6. The pornographic videos, once produced, are doomed to be spread through the internet, then afflict
serious harm on the victimized women both physically and psychologically, violating their humanrights. Therefore, support groups work on requesting the porn production companies and internet
servers to delete the images. However, there are cases in which the companies, in order to avoid
domestic criminal charges, set up their corporate registrations in the US and install internet servers
there, hence do not respond to the request of deletion. In some cases, they even use the overseasinternet server to back-stream the otherwise illegal contents (e.g. unexpurgated videos) into Japan. As
for terminating the sales of videos using victimized women, the measures being taken are notpractically effective.
7. Government measures center on cooperation with investigation after the incident happens, and very
little on prevention in advance. So, there have been quite a number of cases of workers from abroad,including technical intern trainees, arriving in Japan without a good grasp of information on the precise
situation in Japan (i.e., what is allowed and not allowed with their residence status, actual labor terms
and the real labor conditions, detailed remedy systems, etc.) and have been trafficked.
Actually, based on the lessons learned from the large-scale human trafficking case involving JapaneseFilipino Children and their mothers revealed in 2015 in Gifu Prefecture, NGOs repeatedly demand thatthe government (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) enhance human trafficking prevention measures
including comprehensive pre-departure orientation in collaboration with the Philippines Government,
but there is no such move.
8. The regulations on sending agencies of the technical internship program are designated throughbilateral MOCs and the government has concluded them with 14 countries as of June, 2019. However,
MOCs are only agreements between administrative bodies and not legally binding. The contents vary
greatly depending on the counterpart nation, and besides, MOCs are not designed to be detailed
commitments. The government also undervalues the problem of debt bondage through advanced debts
which are generally called “commissions” imposed by agents in sending countries, making the situationof trainees to be like slaves. For instance, following the example of South Korea’s bilateral agreement
under the Employment Permit System, the Japanese government should suspend accepting trainees
from countries that have not yet concluded MOCs and also should take measures such as cancellationor temporary halt of accepting trainees from countries that have concluded MOCs but do not actuallyabide by them, thus securing viability of the memorandum.
9. In November 2017, the Technical Intern Training Act was enforced and Organization for TechnicalIntern Training (OTIT) was created to manage the program. The act requires the OTIT to inspect all theimplementing organizations in 3 years. However, the cumulative total onsite inspections in 2018 were
only 7,886, which means not nearly enough inspections are being done for the 50,000 implementing
organizations that exist.
10. There are often cases of sending organizations deploying liaison offices and agents in Japan,
monitoring the trainees daily, and assisting the forced repatriations. So it is indispensable to grasp theactivities inside Japan of such sending organizations. Furthermore, the government should consider
revising the Technical Internship Act so that the human rights violations by the sending organizations
and their agents would be punished.

811. In July 2017, the Japanese Government ratified the Trafficking in Persons Protocol. However, its
policy has not changed after the ratification and its measures to combat human trafficking have notadvanced because of the ratification.
The government claims that “All the acts that fall under the definition of trafficking in persons laid out
in the Trafficking in Persons Protocol are considered as criminal offenses in Japan”, but the present
Penal Code prescribes the trafficking measures only as “violence or threat”, “deception or enticement”
and “buying or selling of human beings” and it is dubious if all the acts of exploitation including theones done by means of “abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability” or “giving or receiving of
payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person” can be
actually punished or not.
12. In the government’s annual report on its measures against trafficking in persons, they report 20-40
perpetrators and victims every year. However, only a few labor trafficking cases are reported annually,
so it hardly reflects the real situation. The main reason is that the labor standard inspection agencies
that are closest to actual labor sites only regulate violations of the Labor Standards Act and do not havethe function of identifying human trafficking victims. Among the stipulations of the Labor Standards
Act, the one that covers human trafficking is Article 5 “Forced Labor”, but the acts targeted by thearticle are very much limited, so the stipulation is rarely applied. The Japanese government should
promptly install the system of identifying labor trafficking victims to fulfill the duty of a contracting
state of the protocol.
Submitted by: Japan Network Against Trafficking In Persons (JNATIP)

Migrant Workers Convention
Questions
13. Why has the government still not ratified the Migrant Workers Convention? Please respond withthe specific reasons. (54)Backgrounds
13. Regarding the Migrant Workers Convention, the government explained in its 7th and 8th periodic
report that “Japan has been giving careful consideration as there are many issues in terms of theprinciple of equality, and the domestic systems, given, inter alia, that part of the Convention guarantees
migrant workers more rights than the rights guaranteed to Japanese nationals or foreign nationals
other than migrant workers.” They should clearly indicate in their report on precisely which content in
the convention “guarantees for migrant workers the rights that exceed the ones that are guaranteed toother foreigners”.
Submitted by: Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan (SMJ)

for more information about SMJ: https://migrants.jp/english.html

9Women with Disabilities
Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI) Women’s Network JapanThe Beijing Platform for Action recognizes that women with disabilities face barriers to gaining
full equality as well as achieving advancement. Similarly, Article 6 of the UN Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes that women and girls with disabilities are subject
to multiple discrimination and calls on signatory countries, including Japan, to enact appropriate
measures to eliminate such discrimination and to ensure the full development, advancement andempowerment of women with disabilities.
1. Awareness in Japan of the multiple discrimination faced by women with disabilities
In Japan, efforts have been made to ratify and bring Japanese laws in line with the Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The multiple discrimination faced by women withdisabilities was discussed as a part of these efforts. As a result, in the 2011 revision of the Basic
Act for Persons with Disabilities, “sex” was added to the list of items to be taken into
consideration as basic policy for the measures to prevent discrimination on the basis of disability.
In addition, although the newly established Act for Eliminating Discrimination Against Persons
with Disabilities does not contain provisions on multiple discrimination, its supplementary
resolution recognizes the fact that women with disabilities are subject to multiple discriminationand stipulate that their human rights should be protected. That said, as in the past, neither the
principles nor the basic plans of either the Basic Act for Persons with Disabilities and the Act for
Eliminating Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities contain language regarding multiple
discrimination or intersectional discrimination.
At the same time, domestic awareness of multiple discrimination faced by women with disabilities
is steadily increasing. This is evidenced by the fact that local government regulations related tothe elimination of discrimination based on disability—including those of Kyoto Prefecture,
Sendai City, the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, and Shiga Prefecture—have started to incorporate
explicit language regarding multiple discrimination of women with disabilities, ahead of thecentral government.
2. Paucity of gender statistics required to assess the current state of discrimination
Efforts to eliminate multiple and intersectional discrimination against women with disabilities
first requires an assessment of the current state of this discrimination. However, the gender
statistics needed to assess multiple and intersectional discrimination against women withdisabilities is lacking. In addition, no mechanisms exist for comprehensively and systematically
implementing measures and policies to assess and eliminate this discrimination.
Although provisions related to women with disabilities have been incorporated into the basic
policy based on the Act for Eliminating Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities and the10Fourth Basic Plan for Gender Equality, which sets forth domestic measures aimed at promoting
gender equality, concrete plans of action involving specific numbers and measures have not beendeveloped.
In July 2016, the Japanese government submitted its first report to the UN Committee on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CPRD). Of the 42 statistics included in the report, the only
gender statistics provided were for the total number of persons with disabilities and that related
to employment.1 What the statistics reveal is that, for all categories of disability (physical, mental,
and psychological), men account for more than 60% of employed persons with disabilities, that
men are employed at higher rates as regular full-time employees than women, and that womenare employed at higher rates as fixed-term employees than men.
3. Violence against women with disabilities
According to the Report on the Protective Care of Women (2016), 47.3% of the women entering
protective care facilities had a disability or suffered from an illness of some kind; of these women,
26% were in possession of an official disability ID. Despite evidence of such circumstances, nodata exists on the proportion of female and minor victims of domestic violence who havedisabilities, and no policies or measures addressing the need to assess and deal with this issue
have been implemented.
Regarding the Act on the Prevention of Abuse of Persons with Disabilities and Support for
Caregivers, the 2016 annual report issued by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare foundthat 64% of victims of abuse by caregivers are women and that 13% of the caregivers are spouses.
However, the Act on the Prevention of Abuse of Persons with Disabilities and Support for
Caregivers does not contain any mention of gender. In addition, data indicate that the proportionof persons with disabilities seeking consultations regarding domestic violence (DV) has been
increasing in recent years.
That said, information regarding DV support and consultation services is, in many cases, notavailable in a form that is accessible by women with disabilities. Although the Act on Preventionof Spousal Violence and Protection of Victims mentions victims with disabilities, it cannot be said
that adequate support exists at any level, from consultation to protection and self-reliance support,
for women with disabilities who are victims of DV.
Although all individuals involved in healthcare, medicine, welfare, education, public safety, andthe administration of justice need to receive training to be able to recognize the multiple andintersectional discrimination and attendant challenges faced by women with disabilities so thatthey can carry out their duties appropriately, no policies or measures to promote such training
exist.

Proportion of employed persons by gender, proportion of employed persons by industry andgender, proportion of employed persons by employment type and gender, proportion of employedpersons by fixed number of working hours per week and gender, and proportion of employedpersons by occupation and gender.
1

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4. Participation in planning/policy making by women with disabilities
Regarding the composition of various advisory committees and expert committees involved in
the formulation of national and local government policies, although “positive action” such as aquota system can partially be seen, the Commission on Policy for Persons with Disabilities, forexample, comprises 30 members, only two of whom are women with disabilities or some kind of
illness. As a result, the implementation of any efforts including “temporary special measures” isnot being explored.
5. The reproductive health and rights of women with disabilities
In Japan, 16,500 individuals (of which approximately 70% were women) were subjected to forced
sterilization under the Eugenics Protection Law, which was in place from 1948 to 1996. Extralegal
hysterectomies and radiation therapy of women with disabilities have also been carried out. The
reproductive health and rights of women with disabilities have been grossly violated through suchactions.
Despite the issuance of numerous recommendations by the UN Human Rights Commission and
the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Japanese government,
for many years, did nothing to address the problem. The filing of the first ever lawsuit demanding
state reparations for victims of forced sterilizations under the Eugenics Protection Law in 2018
resulted in deliberation on the issue in the National Diet and ultimately led to the adoption of the
Law on the Payment of One-time Reparations for Victims of Eugenic Sterilizations under the
Eugenics Protection Law in April of 2019.
However, the one-time reparation amount is extremely low (3.2 million JPY). As of September
2019, twenty plaintiffs have filed lawsuits asking for an apology and reparations in six district
and one high courts. Even after establishment of the law, the issue continues to be tied up in the
courts.
The reproductive health and rights of women with disabilities remain an issue even after theabolition of the Eugenics Protection Law. Particularly essential are guarantees of opportunities
for sex education, full implementation of support services for persons with disabilities raisingchildren, and training for welfare and healthcare workers.

Suggested Questions○ Are the main laws related to the prohibition of discrimination of persons withdisabilities and gender equality prohibiting multiple discrimination against women withdisabilities?

12

○ We request the provision of information on the investigations conducted, sanctions
imposed, and remedies provided by judicial and administrative institutions since the last
review regarding multiple discrimination against women with disabilities. What efforts
have been made to collect, analyze, and disseminate data, disaggregated by sex, age,disability, geographic location, and socioeconomic, education and employment status of
persons with disabilities? We request the provision of cross-tabulated data broken down
by sex and other factors.
○ Since the last recommendation, what progress has been made in terms of remedies forvictims of the Eugenics Protection Act as well as punishment of the perpetrators?
We request the provision of cross-tabulated data broken down by victims’ sex, type of
surgery, and type of disability, etc.
We request the provision of cross-tabulated data (broken down by sex) on the status of
lump-sum payments in accordance with the “law to pay victims of forced sterilization
under the defunct Eugenic Protection Act” that was enacted in April of 2019.
Has progress been made in identifying and prosecuting perpetrators?
Is the statute of limitations hindering access to the administration of justice in terms ofrestitution to victims?
○ Are special provisional measures being implemented to promote inclusion of womenwith disabilities on various commissions of inquiry and committee of national and local
governments that are responsible for formulating policy?
What provisions aimed at guaranteeing the rights and ensuring the empowerment of
women and girls with disabilities are included in laws related to gender equality and otherlaws, policies, and administrative measures? We request the provision of information on
measures that provide opportunities for women with disabilities to exercise their right tofully participate in the political process and that promote their placement in positions
responsible for political and public decision-making.
○ What is the status of support for domestic violence survivors with disabilities? Werequest the provision of specific information on the status of publicity, the number ofcontacts, the number of domestic violence-related consultations, the status of in-take by
public shelters, and each level of self-reliance support that is accessible, in terms of both
digital and physical access, to persons with all types of disabilities. In addition, what are13the challenges of the current state of support and what policies are needed in the future?
○ Are training and education being provided to various individuals in areas of publichealth, medical care, social welfare, education, policing, and administration of justice
aimed

at

raisingawarenessregardingtheprevalenceandchallengesofmultiple/intersectional forms of discrimination against women with disabilities? In
addition, when support is being provided in each area, is reasonable accommodation
being made to guarantee that the information is accessible?
○ What type of sex education that women with disabilities can receive is being provided
in the context of public education aimed at ensuring sexual and reproductive health andrights. What legal mechanisms exist to guarantee childbirth and childrearing support for
women with disabilities.
○We request general data and information on school dropout rates for all educational
levels, broken down by sex, age, and disability, in comparison with students without
disabilities.
○What measures have been implemented to promote employment of women withdisabilities? We request information on measures that have been implemented to prevent
harassment of women with disabilities in the workplace.

*** Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI) Women’s Network Japan：Established in 1986,

DPI Women’s Network Japan has been working to promote independent living of womenwith disabilities and has worked for the abolition of the Eugenic Protection Act in the past.
Moderately linked with the local organizations for women with disabilities along withindividuals with disabilities, we are working on various issues such as providing
information in Japan and at international level.
http://dwnj.chobi.net/?page_id=41

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