Komeito’s Sasaki interview with family planning NGO leader
March 3 , 2024
In commemoration of International Women’s Day on March 8, Komeito Director of women’s Bureau Sayaka Sasaki met with Mayumi Katsube, who chairs the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP). Their discussion ran the gamut of topics on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of women of all ages.Established in 1968, JOICFP is an international NGO and operates outreach initiatives in 39 countries in Asia, Oceania, South America and Africa as of 2019. Ms. Katsube previously worked for the UN Development Program and Japanese Red Cross Society before assuming the JOICFP chair in June 2023.
Abortion is legal in Japan and the standard birth control pill is available, with the latest “morning-after” pill, backed by Komeito, being sold over the counter on a test basis since November 2023. However, the number of drugstores offering the contraceptive is limited to 145 outlets, of which Tokyo has just five. JOICFP chair Katsube said purchases should be made easier while Sasaki pointed to the scarcity of women parliamentarians as a major obstacle to further deregulations in the hope of alleviating women from concerns over unwanted pregnancies.
To counter the lack of national traction on women’s issues and rights, JOICFP launched “I LADY,” an acronym for “love, act, decide yourself” in 2016 addressed to young people, which it followed with the latest iteration, “SRHR Note.” Komeito has been active in this realm as well. Leveraging its 1,000-strong network of women legislators at the local and national level, the party has conducted a nationwide forum of women, rolling out to a comprehensive initiative in response to their needs and wants in 2023.
As to policy on women’s issues going forward, JOICFP chair Katsube cited reproductive rights and the need for a comprehensive sex education program along the lines of a UNESCO guidance that begins from five-year-old infants. Sasaki shared that to protect minors from sexual predators, Komeito is backing the adoption of a Japanese version of the UK-adopted DBS system, a database of sexual offenders to prevent the hiring of such individuals at workplaces involving children. Another area that requires more political muscle is bridging the gender gap in Japan, which Komeito has also been playing an active role, endorsing same-sex marriages and equal rights to LGTB+ individuals.
