NEW lawmaker Saria Hino takes her seat as one of a record number of women in Japan’s parliament, but while campaigning for the recent election, a voter asked her: “Who’s looking after your children?”
The mother-of-four was among 73 women elected to the 465-seat house of representatives in October’s vote – the most ever, but still a small minority at 16%.
Having won in central Aichi region, the 36-year-old is on a mission to “deliver a message from the front lines” of those raising children or caring for the elderly.
“The responsibility for children’s growth should not lie solely on their parents’ shoulders,” said Hino, who was elected to the opposition Democratic Party for the People.
Women leaders are rare in politics but also in business in Japan, which ranked 118th of 146 in the 2024 World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report.
Veteran female lawmakers have highlighted the difficulties of being a mother and an MP in a parliament, where debates often run on until nearly midnight.
Women made up just a quarter of candidates in the election and can still openly face sexist jibes.
And one in four female electoral candidates said they faced sexual harassment during their campaigns, according to a 2021 Cabinet office survey reported by local media. — AFP
