2003 JAPAN LAW: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Keywords: Family Law, Domestic Violence, Sexual Discrimination, Civil Code, Marriage, Divorce
Copyright 2004. All rights reserved Attorney Roderick H. Seeman
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The United Nations Commission on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) recently issued a report on the condition of women in Japan and offered a number of criticisms. In 2001 new legislation was enacted such that a spouse fearing for her physical safety can obtain restraining orders against the threatening spouse. Penalties for violators included up to one year in jail and/or a fine of one million yen. Yet some claim that the measures have not been very effective. In 2003 there was a case in Tokyo where a man stabbed a woman to death because he thought she knew where his estranged wife was located. Concern was also expressed over working conditions for women in Japan, particularly the wage differentials between men and women as well as women overwhelming taking up the less protected positions as part time workers are temp staffers. The commission noted the differences in the Civil Code between men and women in the minimum age for marriage and the period spouses must wait to remarry after divorce. Japan has enacted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, but not the optional protocol. Many claim this is because it would permit parties not satisfied with actions taken by their own governments to refer cases to the commission, leading to possible conflicts between the commission and Japanese courts.,