FOCUS ASIA-PACIFIC

JUNE 2015 VOLUME 80

Challenges Faced by Japanese Women with Disabilities and their Policy Proposals*
Kumiko Fujiwara

Th e D i s a b l e d P e o p l e ’sInternational (DPI) Women’s
Network Japan was establishedin 1986 aiming to empower
women with disabilities and toadvocate for the repeal of theEugenic Protection Act. After
1996, when the law was revisedwith the deletion of its eugenic
clause and changed its name toMaternal Protection Act, theWomen’s Network sustained its
activities temporarily. But
stimulated by the hosting inJ a p a n o f t h e D P I Wo r l dAssembly and the adoption in
the United Nations of theConvention on the Rights ofPe r s o n s w i t h D i s a b i l i t i e s(CRPD), the Women’s Network
was launched once again in2007. It is currently engaged in
advocacy work on various
challenges faced by womenwith disabilities at the national
and international levels.

Women’s Network in 2012 withmy peers who shared the same
uneasiness with me.

I have been involved in theWomen’s Network since 2010
when the national annual
assembly of DPI Japan wasorganized in Nagoya. My
participation in the national
assembly of that year helped merealize that the uneasiness I
always had was deeply linked
to my life living as a woman, aperson with disabilities andtheir inter-connection. Whileactively being involved in thenational women’s network, I
took the initiative of setting up
the Kansai Regional DPI

In advocating for Japan’s
ratification of the CRPD, anationwide campaign wasstaged calling for the reform of
the existing national legal
system regarding persons withdisabilities. We actively joined
this campaign by focusing on
the incorporation of the concept
of “multiple discrimination” inreforming laws. Finally, the2011 revised Basic Act for theDisabled Persons incorporated a
new provision on ensuring thatany measures for the facilitationof independence andIn 2013, Japan ratified theCRPD which reaffirmed that
persons with disabilities shouldbe equally guaranteed thehuman rights stipulated invarious international humanrights instruments. It should be
noted that persons withdisabilities from around theworld participated in thedrafting process of the CRPD. In
the process, “nothing about us,without us” was repeatedlyvoiced. Article 6 of the CRPD
recognizes that women andgirls with disabilities are subject
to multiple discrimination, andprovides that state parties shalltake measures to ensure the fulland equal enjoyment by themof all human rights andfundamental freedoms.

10participation of the disabled
persons should be developedand implemented taking thegender and age factors into
consideration. The 2013 Third
Basic Plan for the Disabled
Persons recognizes that disabled
women often face a multiplicity
of difficult situations due totheir status as disabled persons
and as disabled women, andspecifies that for the sake ofadequate
planning,implementation, evaluation andreview of any measures for
persons with the disabilities, thegovernment should enhance
information collection and data
accumulation by paying
attention to sex, age and typesof disabilities.
The 7th and 8th Periodic Reportof the Japanese Government
submitted to the Committee ontheEliminationofDiscrimination Against Women
mentioned the multiple
difficulties faced by womenwith disabilities referring to therevised Basic Act for theDisabled Persons and the Third
Basic Plan for the Disabled
Pe r s o n s . C E DAW G e n e ra l
Recommendation No. 18
adopted in 1991 stipulates theobligation of the state party toinclude information about
challenges faced by womenwith disabilities in a periodic
report of state parties. Previous
periodic reports of Japan listed
the subtitle “the disabledFOCUS ASIA-PACIFICwomen” on the table ofcontents, but no information
was included in the report
except for information about thegeneral policies and measures
for the persons with disabilities.
Thus, the government
mentioned the progress on
measures on women withdisabilities for the first time bygiving substantial information
about them.
Yet, the key challenge rests withthe genuine implementation ofthe plan. It is important that thegovernment should take theissue of the multiple difficulties
of women with disabilities inthe basic policies to be
developed according to therecently enacted Law
Concerning the Promotion of
the Solution of Discriminationon the Ground of Disabilities. It
is also important to ensure thatgender statistics are collected
and policies are put into
practice. Even today, official
surveys on the persons withdisabilities hardly makeaggregated data by sex.
C o n s e q u e n t l y , d i f fi c u l tsituations of women withdisabilities are not understood,
and no effective measures forthem are taken. Aggregated datain the statistical reports would
make it possible to find any
gaps or discrepancies existing
between men and women withdisabilities, for example, in theemployment or service use. Ifsuch discrepancies are found, it
is important to identify causesof such gaps and to develop
solutions.
Against this backdrop, theWomen’s Network held asurvey on difficulties faced bywomen with disabilities in
2 0 1 1 . Th e s u r v e y r e s u l t s

JUNE 2015 VOLUME 80
showed that women withdisabilities suffered the mostfrom sexual abuses. The survey
results likewise indicated thatwhile they were not seen as“women,” they still sufferedsexual exploitation. In the caseof women in need of help,
assistance provided by malehelpers likely created
opportunities for such sexualabuses.
Survey on Difficulties Faced by
Women with Disabilities
The following are some of thetestimonies included in thesurvey report:
Sexual abuses
1. I was sexually abused by aboyfriend of my motherwhile I was taking a bathwith his help. He touched
my breast and body, and I
had a terrible and painful
time. I told my mother what
had happened, but, worse,
she did not believe what I
said. (a woman in her 30s
wh o i s o r t h o p e d i c a l l y impaired)
2. I was sexually harassed by
my brother-in-law, and I did
not tell anybody about it. I
am neither able to live
independently, nor allowed
to break my family tie. It was
too humiliating and I cannot
find any words [to express
my feelings]. (a woman inher 50s with impaired sight)
Sexuality and reproductive right
3. W h e n I h a d m y fi r s t
menstruation, my mothertold me, “You don’t needmenstruation.” She meantthat I better have an
operation to remove mywomb so that I would not

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disturb others to help me
during the period. I did not
accept it, and I did not want
to hear such words. Women
older than me often had suchan operation. (a woman inher40s
whoisorthopedically-impaired)
Employment and livelihood4. When I went for a job
interview, the company
officer told me, “To beh o n e s t , w e d o n ’t n e e ddisabled persons. Male withinvisible disabilities is a littlebetter.” (a woman in her 30s
wh o i s o r t h o p e d i c a l l y impaired)
According to available income
data from a private research
institution, the annual incomeof a single female withdisabilities is 22 percent of theannual income of a single malewith no disabilities. On theother hand, the annual incomeof a single male with disabilities
is 44 percent and single female
with no disabilities is 66
percent of the annual income ofa single male with nodisabilities.
Japan has the Act on thePrevention of Spousal Violence
and the Protection of Victims. Itc ove r s d o m e s t i c v i o l e n c eagainst women with disabilities.
The Basic Plan for Gender
Equality includes among
women with multiple forms ofdifficulties the women withdisabilities. Nevertheless, inpractice, no specific policies for
women with disabilities havebeen developed andimplemented. None of thedomestic violence counselingservices set up throughout thecountry provides a signlanguage service or barrier-freeFOCUS ASIA-PACIFC
facilities. It is a de-facto
exclusion of women withdisabilities.
These survey results and theincome data indicate theimportance of taking genderbased statistics and of shedding
the light on the real situation. It
is also important that the plan isdeveloped with theparticipation of women withdisabilities and that concretemeasures are promoted towards
the solution of multiple forms ofdiscrimination against womenwith disabilities.
About Myself
When I became pregnant ten
years ago, my doctor andrelatives recommended that I
abort the baby because of
possible impairment of the childor expected difficulties for me
to care for him/her. Despite therevision of the law, the basic
understanding of society has

JUNE 2015 VOLUME 80
just remained the same. To date,many of the children withdisabilities are being given birthin the midst of distress andembarrassment of their parents
or the sympathy and pity of all
around them. In Hyogo
prefecture where I currently
live, there was once a campaign
entitled “not to have a child of
misfortune.” People still holdthe belief that children withdisabilities are descendants of
the im p a i r e d o r u n h a p py
children. In such circumstances,
it is very difficult for womenwith disabilities to deliver ababy. It is still too far to have a
support system for them to bringup their children.
We will keep our commitment
to the realization of a society
where even persons with severe
disabilities are respected fortheir sexuality and can live a
decent life as an individual
without being excluded.

∗ This is the English translationof the article of the author inJapanese language thatappeared in issue 181 ofIMADR-JC Newsletter, March2015. The article was based on
her presentation at the Minority
Women Conference held inNovember 2014 in Tokyo.
Ms Kumiko Fujiwara is theSecretary-General of the DPI
Women’s Network Japan.
For further information, pleasecontact: Kumiko Fujiwara, DPI
Women’s Network Japan, c/o
DPI Japan, 5th Musashino
Building, 3-11-8, Kanda-Nishikic h o , C h i y o d a - k u , To k y o
101-0054; ph (813)5282-3730; fax (813)5282-0017;
e-mail:dpiwomen@gmail.com; http://dpiwomennet.choumusubi.com/english.html.

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