By MARI FUJISAKI/ Staff Writer
September 8, 2022 at 18:26 JST
A sample resume made by the labor ministry shows a blank space for writing in a response about the person’s gender. (The Asahi Shimbun)
A central government panel is recommending retaining questions about a person’s gender on applications and other forms to collect data on gender inequality, flagging local governments' moves to stop requiring the information.
“It is important to secure data by gender from the perspective of evidence-based policymaking,” said the working group of experts set up at the Cabinet Office.
The working group was established to examine the way a person’s gender is asked on official records and questionnaires from the standpoint of compiling statistics.
The working group, including experts on gender issues and supporters of sexual minorities, have been discussing the matter since April.
All 47 prefectures, except for Tokyo, had abolished a question asking for a person’s gender on application forms for public high schools by fiscal 2021, according to the Cabinet Office.
A sample resume made by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in 2021 showed a blank for the question, with a note reading that “answering the question is voluntary.”
But the working group raised concerns about the move as it accelerates across many sectors.
“If the trend spreads to various official statistical surveys, it could make it difficult to obtain separate data by men and women,” the group said.
Collecting data based on gender, noted the group, was an important part of Japan’s efforts to gauge the status of women as part of the goal to further empower them. The gender inequality in Japan is the largest among the Group of Seven advanced nations.
The group also called on local governments to think of a way to include a question about gender while considering sexual minorities, such as transgender people, as they could become the target of possible harassment and discrimination.
It cited some countries, including Britain, that ask people to answer by choosing from two questions--one about their gender assigned at birth and one on their current gender identity.
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