Photo/Illutration The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women examines Japan's progress on a range of issues at the European Headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on Oct. 17, 2024. (Mizuho Morioka)

BRUSSELS--A U.N. committee that seeks to outlaw all forms of discrimination against women called on Japan to allow selective surnames for married couples.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) also recommended that Japan revise its Imperial House Law to ensure gender equality.

Currently, the law stipulates that successors to the throne must be males from the male line of the imperial lineage.

The U.N. committee, which released its “concluding views” on Oct. 29, urged a change in line with its calls for gender equality.

Oct. 17 marked the first face-to-face session with the Japanese government in eight years at the European Headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

Based on information provided by NGOs, the CEDAW presented its final views.

It commended the progress made since the previous recommendations in 2016, such as the elimination of gender disparities in the age of marriage and the revision of laws to abolish the period prohibiting women from remarrying.

At the same time, it recommended improvements in a wide range of areas.

In 2003, 2009 and 2016, the CEDAW pointed to the need to amend the Civil Code, which stipulates married couples must share the same surname.

This time, the CEDAW once again called for an amendment of the Civil Code and designated the issue as the most important “follow-up item” from the previous 2016 recommendation.

It also called for ratification of what is known as the “optional protocol” under which individuals who have had their human rights violated can appeal to an international organization if they cannot obtain domestic redress.

It also called on the Japanese government to scrap a requirement in the Maternal Protection Law for joint spousal consent for abortion.

Turning to the issue of imperial succession, the committee noted that making specific requests was outside the scope of its authority.

“(But) it would be contrary to the purpose and intent of the Convention to allow only male members of the male lineage to succeed to the Imperial Throne,” it said.

It recommended that the law be revised “to ensure gender equality in succession to the Imperial throne,” citing other countries as examples.

On Oct. 17, the Japanese government stated: “The way of succession to the throne is a matter related to the fundamentals of the state and it is not appropriate to take up the issue in light of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.”

On the issue of equal rights for sexual minorities, the committee’s concluding views called for recognition of same-sex marriages.

It also called for compensation to be paid to those who underwent sterilization under a since disbanded special law for gender identity disorder, which was declared unconstitutional and invalid by a Supreme Court decision.

The committee also called for the prevention of sexual violence against women in Okinawa Prefecture and appropriate punishment for perpetrators, which in many cases involves U.S. base personnel.

An examination is conducted every few years.

This was the sixth examination for Japan. The previous one was done in 2016.

The concluding views are not legally binding.

However, the United Nations expects the views of the committee to be respected in order to realize the principles of the treaties to be ratified.

 

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