Photo/Illutration A local assembly member is forced to sing a duet with a senior politician in a scene from the video produced by the Cabinet Office. (From the YouTube account of the Cabinet Office’s Gender Equality Bureau)

A 29-year-old woman decides to run for a seat in a local assembly after doing volunteer help in child rearing and nursing care, only to be victimized by an abusive constituent and a heavyweight politician.

She is hospitalized after being exhausted physically and mentally.

The scenario comes from a video released on the Cabinet Office’s official YouTube account on April 12 to raise awareness about harassment against local politicians.

“The video is not only for assembly members; it is for everyone to watch,” said Seiko Noda, the state minister in charge of gender equality, at a news conference.

During her campaign, the video’s protagonist has her back rubbed by a man in her constituency.

The man also asks her to give him her cellphone number “in return for my vote.”

After the woman is elected, a politician aged 70 and known as the “boss of the assembly,” says, “I envy you because women can win elections if they are young and good-looking.”

She is also forced to sing a duet with him at a bar with his arm around her shoulders.

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During her campaign, a local assembly member is asked by her constituent to give him her cellphone number in a scene from the video produced by the Cabinet Office. (From the YouTube account of the Cabinet Office’s Gender Equality Bureau)

These scenes are based on actual abuse cases encountered by local politicians.

The Cabinet Office solicited harassment reports from local assembly members between October and November. A total of 1,324 reports came in.

Each report was examined by political scientists, lawyers and other experts, and the accounts were dramatized for the video.

The video portrays abuse scenes, the offenders’ excuses and the victim’s feelings, as well as explanations of what acts constitute harassment.

The footage was produced after the law on gender equality promotion in politics was partially amended in June last year to mandate that the central and local governments take anti-harassment measures.

It is expected to be shown at training sessions for municipal officials and local assembly members.

Noda hopes that many people will watch the video.

“We, as middle-aged and elderly members of society, conduct politics and cast votes without learning what acts constitute harassment,” she said.

“It will be a big step if we watch the video, reflect on ourselves and become aware that some of our actions were offensive to others.”

The footage can be watched on the website of the Cabinet Office’s Gender Equality Bureau.

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