Japan’s journey towards gender equality is a long and arduous one, marked by persistent challenges, unexceptionally in the realms of politics. Despite concerted efforts to bridge the gender gap, Japan’s global ranking for gender equality in politics has recently plummeted to 138th out of 146 nations, according to the 2023 World Economic Forum’s annual Gender Gap Report. In fact the executive bodies of Japanese political parties are mainly led by men, and hence lack gender balance on all levels, from election of candidates to policy making. This can be attributed to the old-fashioned structure of political parties and the way how the Japanese society is established. Reviewing such traditional party structures and drawing lessons from progressive countries on gender balance in party systems may help Japanese politicians and political parties in taking action.
In light of this, the fourth webinar in the “Women in Japan” series will this time delve into politics, examining female participation, gender equality, gender presentation, and the implementation of policies and quota systems to increase the number of women in legislative and party institutions.
With this event, KAS Japan intends to provide possible ideas for political parties on the introduction of gender quotas. We will illustrate the attempts made and challenges faced in strengthening internal gender quotas in Germany over the course of the past few years, using the example of the Christian Democratic Union. The event will analyze the path taken by Germany’s political parties, from addressing gender issues to achieving gender equality, and will look into structures that enable women to be successfully active within their parties.
Date & Time: Wed. October 4, 2023; 17:00 – 18:30 JST; 10:00 – 11:30 CEST Platform: Zoom Webinar Language: Japanese & German only
Project Lead: Naoki Takiguchi
担当者 Naoki Takiguchi
Online Only
オンライン
