March 8th is International Women’s Day, a time to celebrate achievements, acknowledge challenges, and reaffirm our commitment to gender equality and women’s rights.
This year’s theme is “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment,” an optimistic (and we hope, welcome) aspiration. However, globally, there are alarming instances of drastic deterioration in women’s rights, reminding us that the fight for equality is far from over.
In Afghanistan, for example, the return of Taliban rule has seen hard fought progress toward greater gender equality obliterated with oppressive directives targeting women’s access to education, economic opportunity, healthcare and expression.
In recent weeks, the United States has seen intensifying debates around policies supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion, and in the 2 years since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, 14 states have implemented total or near total bans on abortion, limiting women’s reproductive rights and bodily autonomy.
Japan’s challenges, though different, are equally pressing. Japan placed 118 out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Index in 2024. This was a slight improvement on their placing of 125th in 2023, but still left Japan languishing as the worst performer of all G7 countries.
Female representation in Japanese political and corporate leadership lags behind that of many other OECD countries. The gender pay gap is alive and well, with a 2023 government survey showing full time female employees receive 70-80% of the wages of their male counterparts. While access to education appears equal at first glance, the number of women enrolled in STEM subjects at university is significantly lower than you would expect from academic test scores.
Gender based violence is a continuing scourge on women’s lives. In Japan, reporting rates of sexualised crimes and domestic abuse are low and victim blaming and traumatic investigative practices persist. Gender based violence has immediate and long term impacts on survivors’ physical, mental and emotional health, academic achievement, employment and earning potential.
Therefore, despite some notable progress, much work remains to be done. Striving for women’s equality is not about diminishing opportunities for men, but rather about creating a society where we can all reach our full potential, regardless of gender.