Liberal Gender Equality Bill Passed in Conservative Japan

In July 1980, Japan signed the UN Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). It was not until two months ago, however, that Japan passed its first gender equality bill for electoral politics. While this step forward feels long overdue for the world’s third largest economy, it was a symbolic leap for Japan, which ranks 158th out of 193 countries for the share of women in parliament.

The new law outlines the responsibility of national and local governments to “attempt” to make the number of male and female candidates as equal as possible. That means that political parties aren’t legally penalized even if they fail to procure a 50-50 gender candidate base. Article 1 of Clause 2 states that the freedom for political parties to choose their candidates and the freedom of candidates to run for office are not to be violated.

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