Decreasing support for women: ``Expectations turn to disappointment'' Professor Shin Ochanomizu - 1st year under Takaichi administration

On the 21st, one year has passed since Sanae Takaichi became the first female prime minister. According to a Jiji Press opinion poll, the support rate for women in the Cabinet has fallen sharply from 65.9% at the time of its inauguration to 42.9%. We asked Professor Shin (comparative politics) of Ochanomizu University's Gender Research Institute, who is an expert on women's political participation, about the background.

-Recently, the approval rating has been on a downward trend.

The approval rating for the Cabinet was at a high level of over 60% when he took office, but it has gradually declined since the February lower house election and is currently around 40%. The decline in support among women, which initially exceeded that among men, has also affected overall support.

Even people who did not actively support the Liberal Democratic Party, such as women and young people, had high expectations due to the fact that the Prime Minister is a woman and the face of the party has changed, but they may now be disappointed. Currently, there is no one else within the party or in the opposition party who can support him, and support for the prime minister has become passive.

-What is the reason for the decline in support from women?

There were hopes that the government would advance policies regarding women, but no significant progress has been made. It is questionable whether the Prime Minister's move to expand the use of maiden names will alleviate the inconvenience, nor will it solve the problem of women's identity. This is far from what women wanted, and will likely prevent the introduction of a system of selectively separating surnames for married couples. This is an appeal to the conservative support base.

Consideration is underway to amend the Prostitution Prevention Act to expand the scope of punishment to prostitution, but tightening regulations alone will not solve the problem. We need to promote impunity and strengthen support for ``sellers,'' and promote policies from the standpoint of women who are forced to do so.

-There are only two female cabinet members.

The prime minister had said that Japan would appoint a female cabinet minister on par with the Nordic countries, but this is a reversal. It was said that the party's internal base was weak, but considering the Liberal Democratic Party's landslide victory in February's House of Representatives election, it would have been sufficient to make a strong statement that it would appoint a large number of women. Actually, I guess he wasn't that interested.

In order to increase the number of female ministers, it is necessary to increase the number of female members of parliament. If the current government's bill to reduce the number of members of the House of Representatives is enacted, there is a risk that the number of female members of the House of Representatives will further decrease.

-What do you want from the prime minister?

I would like people to listen more to the voices of women who were eagerly supporting the election and hoping for a female prime minister. If you listen closely, you will hear the difficulties, poverty, and difficulty of living that each person faces.